Exploring Japan's Media Landscape

This course will examine Japanese media through the lenses of economics, politics, and media studies. A key goal: understand the forces that shape the creation of content across different demands that individuals in Japan have for information as consumers, producers, entertainment seekers, and voters. Broad themes include the ways that markets transform information into news, the operation of the marketplace of ideas, the economics of digital entertainment markets, and the operation of social networks. Distinctive features of Japanese media include anime, manga, national newspapers, and the NHK public broadcasting system. (Note: no previous study of economics, politics, or media studies required).