Media Literacy and Responsibility as Independents

　　Nowadays, Japan has some issues that spark debate among countries. In spite of that, many people especially young generation seem to find difficulty in having own opinion, trying to avoid reading news articles and talking about such topic with their friends. One of the reasons for this phenomenon is that people are not sure about how they can take media information. Here are three points to know in order to see the facts of social issues as objective as possible, and build “your own opinion” from large amounts of media information.

Firstly, to understand what the media mean and how they work is important. Media were originally referred to “means of delivering and receiving information.” TV, newspapers, and Internet are of course media, which are classified as “mass” media. On top of that, political speech or casual discussion with family and friends can also be defined as the media since through the action, people both deliver and receive the information. Those media work to change the recognitions or interpretations about problems into wrong nuance or meaning by mediation. An example of media that lead people to misunderstand is the way mass media bring information about the problem concerned with the whaling of Japan. In many Japanese media, the reason frequently emphasized is only the cultural friction. This often sounds understandable because whale eating habit is one of Japanese culture that should be protected, and therefore Japanese whale eating habit and the whaling should not be accused by other countries who do not understand the culture. But, if you think about this problem further, you will realize that it is very doubtful to bring idea that “whale eating habit is a Japanese culture” for this reason because in most of areas, Japan does not have such traditional eating habit. In this case media work not only to deliver information, but also to change information itself.

　　Secondly, it is also important to know that media information is always biased. The problem here is that the recipients in front of media sometimes don’t examine the quality of information. Since even so called “most reliable media” are under influence of business, it could hardly be “objective” in a true sense. The role of media is to bring information, but before then, they have to edit information. To raise an example, information in some advertisement about collagen supplement for white skin, which often sounds quite scientific and trustworthy, is deliberately edited to lead people to buy the goods. According to National Institute of Health and Nutrition, the Japanese incorporated administrative agency, the effect of collagen to white skin is not scientifically proved. This is because the advertiser’s purpose is to promote their products. Since there is always an editor behind media information, it is inevitable for them to be biased.

Lastly, to know different angle and not to be afraid of changing the thought about issue is crucial. As information in media can hardly be objective, it is effective to know the different side of the story. This also helps people to strengthen the opinion to have more validity because the other side of information might support one side by criticizing it. This may be hard to do for some people because it is much easier to make a conclusion in the early stage and stop thinking about them. But as long as the media keep bringing information to public, people have to update their thoughts, and be aware of the risk of swallowing information as they get it.

　　If you start taking stance considering these three points, you may find different facts and realize what you have thought to be true is not actually your opinion. Knowing more comprehensive picture of social problems and building the neutral opinion is necessary for the independent opinion holder.

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日本は今、海外で議論を巻き起こすような数多くの問題を抱えている。そのわりに多くの人々、特に若い世代は記事を読んだり友達と意見交換をしたりすることを避ける等、自分の意見をはっきり持つことができずにいるように思う。ここではメディアから情報をうまく汲み取り、できるだけ客観的に自分の意見を持つために必要な3つのポイントを紹介する。

最初にメディアの定義と働きを知ることは重要だ。メディアとは情報を運んだり受け取ったりする媒介方法であり、テレビやラジオはもちろんのこと政治家の街頭演説や友達同士でする意見交換のディスカッションですらメディアともいえるのだ。これらメディアはありのままの情報運ぶだけでなくを解釈や認知を全く別のもの（事実と別ではなく媒介方法によって様々な解釈が生まれるということ）にしてしまう働きもあるのだ。捕鯨問題を例に挙げて説明しよう。日本の捕鯨は国際社会から非難を浴びている。日本のメディアはその問題の根本的な原因を諸外国の日本文化理解不足として取り上げてしまうが、実際問題として野生のクジラの頭数が少なくなっていることも確かであるはずだ。それにもかかわらず日本のメディアは人々に「日本人として日本の文化（＝捕鯨）を守る」という認知を与えているのだ。実際のところ食糧不足だった戦後まもなく以降、日本人はクジラをそれほど消費していないし日本の一部地域では捕鯨文化があったものの捕鯨を日本全体の文化言うことは大げさであるのだ。一部を全体で表す大げさな比喩表現をマスメディアがその意図の有無に関係なく使うことで、人々がくみ取る認識・解釈は偏ったものになってしまう。

次に重要なポイントは情報には常にバイアスがかかっていると意識してメディアに触れることだ。様々な考えがあると思うが、マスメディアは資本主義の下で情報発信しており、また友達同士でのディスカッションでは自分に関する情報として発信することで自らのアイデンティティに一貫しなければいけないなど一貫性のバイアスが含まれてしまう。そのような意味で人間が客観的に情報を取り入れ発信することはできない。しかしこれを了解した上で情報を取り込んでいくことで、自分が間違った認識をしている可能性に気付くことができるかもしれないのだ。

3つ目のポイントは様々な角度から情報を取り入れ、考えを変えることを恐れないことだ。上記で説明したようにメディア上の情報に完璧な客観性はまずないため、自分の意見に新しい情報を取り入れ、アップデートさせていくことも必要なのだ。もし新しい情報が自分の意見を変えなかったとしても、それは自分の意見をサポートする一つの証拠となり無駄な情報にはならないのだ。

この3つのポイントをおさえてメディアに触れることでメディアが伝える情報をそのまま伝言ゲームのように自分で発信してしまうことを防ぐことができるだろう。またそれと同時に独立した一個人として様々な問題に対し自分自身の意見を持てるようになるはずだ。

#politics #socialissue