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TMCNet: Japan ponders broadcasting watchdog

[September 20, 2009]

Japan ponders broadcasting watchdog

TOKYO, Sep 20, 2009 (The Yomiuri Shimbun - McClatchy-Tribune News Service via COMTEX) -- The Japanese government is contemplating the establishment of an independent body that would have jurisdiction over the fields of communications and broadcasting, according to sources.


Currently, Japan's Internal Affairs and Communications Ministry supervises communications and broadcasting, a contradictory situation in which the government oversees news broadcasters, who keep tabs on how the state exercises power. The creation of an independent administrative organization would end this inconsistency by removing this control from the ministry.

The government will soon set up a study group to examine the transfer of authority. It plans to submit a bill to create the new institution in next year's ordinary Diet session at the earliest, and hopes to launch the body in 2011.

Under the law, the ministry currently has authority over such matters as regulation, punitive measures and the granting of permits and licenses for broadcasters and companies in the communications industry. It also controls the allocation of radio frequencies.

While the ministry listens to reports from advisory councils and other groups regarding the pros and cons of such matters as allocating frequencies and awarding permits and licenses, the fact remains that, in reality, it has the final say.

The Democratic Party of Japan has criticized this state of affairs, questioning why the state has the power to oversee news organizations.

Shifting the administration of communications and broadcasting is the centerpiece of the DPJ's policies in these fields. The party included this matter in a policy document published before the House of Representatives election, and it is now taking advantage of its newly acquired power to launch a full-blown examination of the issue.

The government is planning to base the new institution on the U.S. Federal Communications Commission, a body independent of the U.S. government with strong authority. The government would position the institution as the "Japanese FCC." (EDITORS: STORY CAN END HERE) The study group is expected to hold discussions with experts and people related to the broadcasting and communications industries. Based on these talks, it will create the necessary infrastructure to realize the independent body.

It also would look at shifting from ex-ante regulation, or anticipatory intervention, of the two fields to ex-post regulation, first granting licenses and permits and then applying restrictions when warranted. It also would examine ways to make the domestic industry more responsive to technological developments.

Members of the study group also are expected to discuss granting the independent organization the right to order broadcasters to provide redress to people negatively affected by content that clearly violates broadcasting ethics, for example content that violates human rights.

The FCC was established in 1934 as an independent administrative commission. It has the right to grant permits and licenses and draw up regulations in the fields of broadcasting and communications.

___ (c) 2009, The Yomiuri Shimbun.

Visit the Daily Yomiuri Online at http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/index-e.htm/ Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.

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