Published papers

The purpose of this study is to exmine the news source mix, the patterns of news source combination, and news souce'completeness'in the coverage of the brain death and transplantation issue. The'completeness'of source is defined as the degree to which a single type of source is quoted rather than combined with other types. 376 stories (Asahi Shimbun 192, Mainichi Shimbun 184) which contain the word"brain death"and"transplantation"were analyzed. In accordance with the result of many previous studies, this study found a lack of balance in the mix of news sources. the majority of information was from medical professionals and goverment-affiliated officials. This study also found that most stories relied on one type of news source and that the ofiicial sources had relatively high source completeness.

This article reviews sender studies conducted by analyzing messages in Japan during last 10 years. Many content analysis studies have tried to reveal the sender's attitude or stance toward specific affairs and to evaluate senders' performance. By adopting new analyzing methods, some studies succeeded finding out the senders understanding contained in messages. Conducting studies which link sender variables to message variables, sophistication of analyzing methodology, and analyzing various contents forms are suggested for the future.

This study explores the use of sources and channels in network evening news programs in Japan. For the purpose of research, a content analysis was conducted using videotaped reports from evening news programs of NHK and 4 major commercial networks. The unit of analysis was the televised news sourse, defined as "any individual, group, or organization attributed by journalists as a source of information or opinion". In accordance with the findings of previous studies, this study found that governmental sources dominate news sources and that more news originating from routine channels are used in both NHK and commercial TV networks. There were, however, significant differences in sourcing patterns between NHK and commercial broadcasters.