TITLE:
Newspaper Reports on BSE around the Time of the Japan-US Trade Conflicts: Content Analysis of Japanese and US Dailies from 2002 to 2006
AUTHORS:
Hajime Sato, Rose G. Campbell
KEYWORDS:
Mass Media; Newspapers; BSE; Risk Communications; Japan; US
JOURNAL NAME:
Advances in Journalism and Communication,
Vol.2 No.1,
March
28,
2014
ABSTRACT: Mass media can affect how people understand and react to particular health risks. Reporting of
health risks during the international trade disputes, resulting from the difference in safety regulations,
therefore can play a pivotal role in resolving them. This study compared the newspaper reports
on BSE-related events in major national dailies between Japan and the US around the period
when BSE-infected cattle were discovered in the US and the import of US beef products was
banned (between December 2002 and November 2006). During the study period, the number of
BSE-related newspaper articles increased in both the US and Japan, but the visibility of the issue
was more prominent and persistent in Japan than in the US. Geographically, most of the articles
had a domestic focus, but they also reported the news of each trade partner. After the discovery of
BSE cattle in the US, articles of commerce and trade issues were dominant in Japan, while the incidence
of BSE, agriculture, and trade dominated in the US. Overall, the US-based newspapers carried
more advocacy articles than the Japanese ones. In Japan, calls for stronger domestic policy
decreased, but those for stronger foreign policy increased slightly. Meanwhile, in the US, calls for a
stronger domestic policy increased slightly whereas those for weaker foreign policy dropped-both
only temporarily. The major rationale for policy advocacy was the economy and health in both Japan
and the US. However, the balance of competing policy objectives and the rational acceptance
of BSE risks were argued more in the US papers than in the Japanese ones. In conclusion, during
the BSE-related dispute on health and trade, the visibility and faces of the issues in newspapers
differed between Japan and the US. Acceptance of BSE-related risks was argued differently, and
those differences reflected and affected the public's perception of BSE issues, the related safety
policies by the governments, and the configuration of social interests in each country. The
differences evident in the media could serve as a vehicle for reappraising the existing policies as well as
the possible international harmonization of risk management policies.