Japan-centricism at it's most amusing

[hundefar]

I think people are being a bit harsh here. Go to any country and the mainstream media coverage will almost invariably focus on the performances of their own athletes. (Case in point, Australia...Read their coverage and you would assume that only Ozzies are competing in Vancouver, even though people from Down Under seem to have Downs Syndrome when it comes to the Winter Olympics. Who gives a fuck about who finishes 67th in the freestyle moguls? Yet, that's the focus of their coverage.)
I don't think the bias in coverage is a Japanese-thing as opposed to a media-thing. The media is simply catering to the people who pay for it, whatever the country.

I agree. All scandinavian countries do this too. In Denmark today all the sports pages have headlines about how the womens curling team didn't make it. Womens curling is one of the only disciplines where Denmark has a remote chance of winning a medal, so the papers are full about stories about the fucking womens curling team.

[Screwed-down Hairdo]

....so the papers are full about stories about the fucking womens curling team.

Knowing a bit about Denmark, it doesn't surprise me that you have one of these teams....

[Yokohammer]

I think people are being a bit harsh here. Go to any country and the mainstream media coverage will almost invariably focus on the performances of their own athletes. ... (snippity-snip) ... I don't think the bias in coverage is a Japanese-thing as opposed to a media-thing. The media is simply catering to the people who pay for it, whatever the country.

I think the operative term here is "focus on."

Focusing on the performance of your nation's athletes is one thing; active exclusion of all else is another. In any "picture," metaphorical or otherwise, the main subject is usually in sharp focus while the background, even if it is out of focus, provides the context that makes the subject meaningful. You could Photoshop out everything other than the subject, but then you'd have the subject floating in a void of nothingness ... which makes no sense unless you have some sort of pathological obsession with only the subject ... ah-ha!!

I'm not well informed enough to say that only Japan does this (apparently they aren't the only ones, according to several posts in this thread), but since this is the Olympic Games, supposedly an international event, the idea of glossing over information that provides the context for everyone's achievements (or non-achievements) is just counter to the spirit of the event. No matter who does it. From what I'm seeing here in my own little corner of the world, Japan does it big time, whereas some other countries seem to provide a more balanced view ... while at the same time "focusing" on the performance of their own athletes, which is fine.

So I really don't think that criticizing an exclusionist way of representing the games is harsh at all. It applies across the board, but most of us just happen to be directly observing what's going on here in J-land.

Making the pond smaller so the fish appear bigger is just gutless.*

* This applies to people who say that Sumo should be limited to Japanese participants as well.
* It's also the reason I wear very small briefs ... ... just kidding ... I actually wear very small boxers.

[Iraira]

I was forced to watch the Men's figure skating thing twice by the gf. They showed the awards cermony on BS-tv complete with the entire US national anthem and didn' center on the Hinomaru flag or Takehashi throughout the whole thing. Kinda surprised me, but even more worrisome is that I've been ordered to VTR the chick's figure skating thing...which at least involves womens spreading wide...but I'll still be forced to watch it at least twice.

[Yokohammer]

I was forced to watch the Men's figure skating thing twice by the gf. They showed the awards cermony on BS-tv complete with the entire US national anthem and didn' center on the Hinomaru flag or Takehashi throughout the whole thing. Kinda surprised me, but even more worrisome is that I've been ordered to VTR the chick's figure skating thing...which at least involves womens spreading wide...but I'll still be forced to watch it at least twice.

Yeah, it's certainly not all media outlets all the time, but it does seem to be a trend.

You don't like the women's figure skating? That's some seriously slick sliding some of them girlies are doing. Never fails to impress the heck out of me.

[Screwed-down Hairdo]

Women's figure skating was a hell of a lot more fun when Tonya Harding was around...

I always struggle to tell the difference between men's and women's figure skating. It all looks the same to me....

[Samurai_Jerk]

SDH, I can't compare Japan to the rest of the world but I can say that Japanese Olympic coverage is a lot more narrowly focused than US Olympic coverage. What annoys me the most is the way the announcers during events are a cheering squad for Japan first and expert analysts second.

[Screwed-down Hairdo]

[quote="Yokohammer"]I think the operative term here is "focus on."

Focusing on the performance of your nation's athletes is one thing]

Considering this was such an intelligent and well-composed response, I tried to come up with an intelligent and well-composed reply, only to learn (once again) while doing so that intelligence is definitely not my forte.
I do stand by my case, though. While writing, I did a check of Vancouver coverage from Ozand Japan. It's much of a muchness....80 percent or more articles about the local athlete (who has usually finished somewhere in the mid-20s to 30s). Similar coverage in Britainand the US, too.
I don't deny the Japanese are exclusionary (among the worst proponents in the world), but their heavy emphasis on local competitors is more a media thing than a national thing. They'll hail winners wherever they come from.

[Screwed-down Hairdo]

SDH, I can't compare Japan to the rest of the world but I can say that Japanese Olympic coverage is a lot more narrowly focused than US Olympic coverage. What annoys me the most is the way the announcers during events are a cheering squad for Japan first and expert analysts second.

I don't deny it, and it annoys the hell out of me, too. But I do say it's not just a Japanese thing.
I do agree that U.S. media coverage is much more balanced than most other places. But, then again, the U.S. has no need to celebrate 37th placings, as happens in countries like Japan, Oz and Britain. Even so, the vast majority of coverage will still be about American athletes.
Think about this....the media is selling to local markets. They want to know about local issues. If you've got a Japanese punter watching the Olympics (and being lured by the ads in between events so they will part with their hard-earned yen), you'll want to keep their interest so you can ensure they stay tuned in and eventually part with their money in some way. People want to know about stuff they can relate to. If they can keep trying to get Taro to part with his cash by showing him Japanese athletes. If it takes a gaijin star to keep waving the bait, they'll put a gaijin star in.
I don't deny jingoism plays its part, but the money game is definitely far more important, especially in this day and age when traditional media industries are all going down the drain.

[Adhesive]

Considering this was such an intelligent and well-composed response, I tried to come up with an intelligent and well-composed reply, only to learn (once again) while doing so that intelligence is definitely not my forte.
I do stand by my case, though. While writing, I did a check of Vancouver coverage from Ozand Japan. It's much of a muchness....80 percent or more articles about the local athlete (who has usually finished somewhere in the mid-20s to 30s). Similar coverage in Britainand the US, too.
I don't deny the Japanese are exclusionary (among the worst proponents in the world), but their heavy emphasis on local competitors is more a media thing than a national thing. They'll hail winners wherever they come from.

You've been in Japan too long when...

Using your examples, I counted all the article headlines on each site that don't focus on the the home country's athlete's performance (yeah, I'm a dork):

UK 8/20 Articles 2/3 Blogs No Medal Count (56% of articles focus on Britain's performance)

US 15/26 w/ Medal Count (42% of the articles focus on American's performance)

Aus 9/16 w/ Medal Count (43% of the articles focus on Australia's performance)

Japan 3/29 w/ Japanese Medal Count (89% of the articles focus on Japan's performance) (Only 2/29 articles if you don't count Ohno, who they probably only mention because his pops is Japanese)


We have a winner!

[Yokohammer]

We have a winner!

Damn!
"You must spread some Reputation around before giving it to Adhesive again."

Brilliant research!

[Screwed-down Hairdo]

OK, I'm hoist on my own petard....It's not hard to hate the Japanese coverage anyway. Great job Adhesive!

[Mulboyne]

One of the larger problems with this kind of international coverage is the unrealistic expectations it creates. Elsewhere, I mentioned that press surveys overseas tipped Japan to pick up four medals, with no golds. Meanwhile, the Japanese press was talking up chances of a 10 medal haul or more, including golds. That wasn't an impossible target but it didn't just require everyone to perform at their best, it also required others to underperform.

During a competition, I want to hear about what individuals or teams need to do, what challenges they face and what kind of performance will put them in with a medal chance. Instead, you get something along the lines of "X won a cup 18 months ago so here's hoping we can see that again". No discussion of current form or trends in the sport.

The Japanese media almost doom their public to disappointment when they overhype outside chances. Certainly, there are always upsets in sport and you hope your own team can be a beneficiary but it would be better if that's how the media described them beforehand. Also, by failing to focus on the excellence of the actual winners, the media do a disservice to sport in general in Japan by not highlighting the standards required to succeed at the top level.

I come across this most often in coverage of football where the media's view of who Japan should be beating is wildly at odds with their global ranking. Over a longer period, expectations for Japan's top golfers have generally also been built too high. To a lesser extent, you see the same problem in any coverage of table tennis and volleyball international clashes.

Of course, you don't want supporters to be downbeat about their team's chances but you can be optimistic and supportive without losing all perspective. It makes the victories all the sweeter when they do come.

[Yokohammer]

Also, by failing to focus on the excellence of the actual winners, the media do a disservice to sport in general in Japan by not highlighting the standards required to succeed at the top level.

Yes! This is the bit that gets my dander up. The whole thing is skewed towards fantasy, and furthers the delusion that you just need to "ganbaru" harder to be the best in the world.

Excellent analysis overall. I tried to green-snot you, but you know what happened ...

[Screwed-down Hairdo]

The whole thing is skewed towards fantasy, and furthers the delusion that you just need to "ganbaru" harder to be the best in the world.

The second Japan stops being a fantasy land, I'm going back to the real world. Ganbaro!

[persephone]

Interesting article on Gawker about the backlash against the US-centric coverage of the Olympics. Also notes mildly racist commentary by the ... commentators?

http://gawker.com/5477080/the-nbc-winter-olympics-coverage-backlash

[maraboutslim]

SDH, I can't compare Japan to the rest of the world but I can say that Japanese Olympic coverage is a lot more narrowly focused than US Olympic coverage.

Two reasons for this.

The "US" coverage is in English and as such is read by many people all over the world from many different countries and therefore it makes sense that it would be more wide ranging. By contrast, the Japanese news is in Japanese language and basically only Japanese people can read it and therefore it is of course more narrowly focused to Japanese interests.

The "US" coverage, even when aimed at the US audience, must take into account that the USA is a country of immigrants and many of them are interested in the performance of people from their original countries. This immigrant history gives the people of the usa a more wide ranging interest in other countries of the world. Japan has nothing of the sort.

[Kanchou]

For the most part, aren't most US immigrants pretty gung-ho about routing for the US?

On another note, I do like seeing Japanese athletes succeed... just not as much as Americans. Hehe.

[Screwed-down Hairdo]

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[Greji]

Interesting article on Gawker about the backlash against the US-centric coverage of the Olympics. Also notes mildly racist commentary by the ... commentators?

http://gawker.com/5477080/the-nbc-winter-olympics-coverage-backlash

Where I don't particularly agree with the author, there are people who do, so I can't slam him. But, these are the Olympic games for Christ's sake, if these people don't like the games, don't watch. It's that simple. Many, many, more people do care and do root for their favorite athletes and/or their country's team. They enjoy this and it pisses me off to see a minority of the non-fans, trying to stir up shit to ruin the entertainment for the majority, who are fans...

[Screwed-down Hairdo]

Where I don't particularly agree with the author, there are people who do, so I can't slam him. But, these are the Olympic games for Christ's sake, if these people don't like the games, don't watch. It's that simple. Many, many, more people do care and do root for their favorite athletes and/or their country's team. They enjoy this and it pisses me off to see a minority of the non-fans, trying to stir up shit to ruin the entertainment for the majority, who are fans...

I will gladly root for any country on Earth.

[Doctor Stop]

Womens curling is one of the only disciplines where Denmark has a remote chance of winning a medal, so the papers are full about stories about the fucking womens curling team.

Who's fucking the womens curling team?

[Screwed-down Hairdo]

Who's fucking the womens curling team?

No, no, no. It's not "who is," it's the women's team themselves that are doing the fucking.
And I think they were taking part in these Games....

(You can see a bigger NSFW picture offsite here)

I'm definitely rooting for these girls.

[Screwed-down Hairdo]

I've just looked up curling on the Net. I'm glad I did. Until then, I'd thought it was the name for Twister adopted as an Olympic event. But they do it with brooms....sounds German (or Danish) to me.

[hundefar]

I just read in the papers today that the Danish womens curling team received special counseling from a sports psychologist in order to help them cope with their defeat.

[eddie]

I just read in the papers today that the Danish womens curling team received special counseling from a sports psychologist in order to help them cope with their defeat.

cope with the fact they're *curlers*

[Screwed-down Hairdo]

I just read in the papers today that the Danish womens curling team received special counseling from a sports psychologist in order to help them cope with their defeat.

They should just brush it off....

[dimwit]

No, no, no. It's not "who is," it's the women's team themselves that are doing the fucking.
And I think they were taking part in these Games....

(You can see a bigger NSFW picture offsite

I'm definitely rooting for these girls.

You inspired me to google 'nude curling' and other varients but alas I found nothing of interest.

[BO-SENSEI]

I would kill to see olympic hockey highlights on the news, but no, i get 3 hours of curling tactics and replays.

[Screwed-down Hairdo]

I would kill to see olympic hockey highlights on the news...

...sounds like someone I know.