Funding Public Interest Journalism in Japan: An Overview

Public interest journalism in Japan has been maintained by newspapers, which enjoy a high household subscription rate based on a home delivery system(Hayashi,2017). However, as in other countries, the situation has changed dramatically due to the spread of the internet, where people in Japan are now habitually reading news on free platforms. For those who read news for free on the Internet, such a situation is not perceived as a serious problem; whereas newspaper companies are struggling to survive with declining advertising and fewer readers. Japanese newspapers have also avoided major changes, focusing on employment in home delivery system services and newsrooms, so there has not been as much cutback in journalists as in other countries(Sakai,2021). Around the world, how sustainable models of journalism can be maintained has been much debated with the potential of crowdfunding models（Aitamurto,2011,Cha,2020,Hunter,2015, Carvajal,2012）, donation models(Friedland&Konieczna,2011,Wright,Scott&Bunce,2019), membership models(Friedland&Konieczna,2011, Konieczna&Robinson,2014) and Nordic press support models (Kaufholz,2020) all being discussed. However, these models are largely dependent on a country's socio-political situation, thus limiting them from being adopted universally. In fact, while some broadcasters sell their content to streaming platforms, most media companies from broadsheets to community newspapers in Japan, operate in the conventional way, with advertising or subscription fees. This study focuses on the funding conditions of Japanese news outlets involved in public interest journalism, and investigates what new funding attempts are being implemented. The funding situation of national and regional newspapers and the current state of journalistic activity in community media will be examined. It also discusses the current status and challenges of alternative news websites not relying on print editions, and explores future challenges for public interest journalism in Japan. This research reveals 1) Japanese newspapers are struggling to monetise on the internet, whereas magazines are finding their way to web-based subscriptions; 2) Japanese alternative journalism, albeit only slightly, is built on a donation system; 3)Public interest journalism activities are rarely practised in Japanese community media; and 4) The lack of sufficient support systems and networks to support small-scale journalism in Japan.