TV programs in Japan and in France

Upload: 19 February 2019, Last update: 20 February 2019

When I watch French TV programs, I come across debates and international news a lot more than watching Japanese TV. (this depends on the time and the TV programs I watch though)

Japanese TV has debates or commentators exchanging opinions, but in most of cases they are not digging into the topics and they are just talking the surface of it. Also I’ve been wondering why news programs on TV in Japan cover so many entertainment news like romances or interviews of celebrities. That may be because Japanese TV stations tend to be attentive to the ratings of each program, they may be trying to attract more audiences by broadcasting familiar topics of the public than broadcasting international news or assigning time to a little difficult matters.

Take a case of France, France has more debates on TV. Debates on TV give opportunities for the public to think about politics. Though I’m sometimes impressed by some of commentators strongly pushing their opinions without hearing enough others’ comments in debate, TV programs in France takes more time for debate. Moreover, they also cover international topics by putting more time than Japan, like DRC’s election, Venezuelan political situation, and so on.

The importance of international news and political debates on TV is giving opportunity to think about the current news to the public. This provides people with the habit of thinking about what is going on in their society and the world. Although people are also curious and I don’t oppose to cover celebrities’ news, Japan should take more time to the TV programs which needs people to use their brains, like debates and international news. Besides, if Japanese people do not have knowledge on international topics, they will be left behind from the globalized world.