The NHK Broadcasting Culture Research Institute has been regularly conducting nationwide surveys of schools and individual teachers since 1950 to study the ongoing situations of the media environment in schools as well as to overview the usage of NHK’s educational services such as broadcasting, the internet, and events. The AY2024 survey aimed at individual primary school teachers for the first time in three years. On this occasion, the survey methodology was partially changed from past surveys of teachers.

Compared to the AY2021 survey, there were few changes in the proportions of teachers with tablet computers (from 96% to 97%) and those with access to the internet (from 98% to 99%), but those using them “almost every day” have increased for both. Furthermore, teachers who let pupils use personal computers or tablet devices distributed to each child (“GIGA school devices”) in the classroom have reached 98%.

As to the use of media learning materials in the classroom, the utilization rate of “NHK for School” (primary school teachers) has increased from 88% in AY2021 to 94%. The second most used was YouTube (73%). These results show that videos were actively viewed in classes.

In terms of teachers’ support for pupils’ home learning, just as in AY2021, many used printed materials such as “print-version textbooks” and “commercially available workbooks and handouts” while there was limited use of video materials and “simultaneous interactive online teaching” tools.

Since the use of one-to-one devices and video viewing is spreading in the classroom due to the government-led “GIGA School Concept,” it is necessary to consider a total design of learning encompassing both school and home learning.

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The issues surrounding repeated sexual abuse against boys by the late Johnny Kitagawa (died in 2019), Founder of the former Johnny & Associates, Japan’s top male talent agency, surfaced in 2023, triggered by the coverage of the BBC, UK’s public service broadcaster. The talent agency set up a “panel of external experts for the prevention of recurrence,” which criticized the “silence of the mass media” as the reason for the decades of widespread sexual assaults.

The previous issue (May 2025 issue) analyzed obituary reports by the media released immediately after his death (Higashiyama and Miyashita). In response to the panel’s remark, this issue examines the content of terrestrial TV programs themed “investigation” or “special program” about the scandal aired by NHK and Tokyo-based commercial stations from September 2023 onward. Each program is primarily based on the interviews with working and former personnels of news, production, and programming departments of each broadcaster and presents how each broadcaster deals with the issue and what actions are taken to prevent a recurrence.

How have the media reported the Johnny & Associates sexual abuse cases, or have they not? Are they taking adequate measures to prevent the repetition of human rights violations, in response to the remark, “silence of the mass media”? In view of the background of the issue, this paper takes a panoramic view of the investigations and analyses presented in these programs and summarizes the interviews.

At the end of 2024, then TV personality Masahiro Nakai’s “trouble with a woman” became known to the public after a weekly magazine’s report, which made broadcasters’ human rights awareness be questioned anew. Under such circumstances, the broadcasting media are once again confronted with the question of what they can do to restore the lost confidence.

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An independent probe conducted by a third-party panel appointed in 2023 by the top Japanese talent agency, Johnny & Associates, concluded that the agency’s late founder, Johnny Kitagawa, had, for decades, sexually assaulted teenage boys aspiring to succeed in the entertainment industry. The expert panel, commissioned to recommend ways to prevent recurrence of such abuse and exploitation, also faulted the mass-media for ignoring the allegations against Kitagawa that had been reported extensively by the weekly magazine Shukan Bunshun from 1999 to 2000, pointing out that the “silence of the mass media” contributed to the continuation of abuse that resulted in a large number of victims. To learn how the public viewed these issues, we conducted an online survey from late February to early March in 2024.

Regarding the issue of sexual assault by Kitagawa, more than 80% of the respondents said they considered this as a "serious issue." Regarding its coverage by the media, just over 60% said they "approved" the reporting by Shukan Bunshun before the issue became widely acknowledged, and over 70% said other media outlets "should have reported on it" as well.

The percentage of people who "watched," "watched part of," or "thought they had watched" the investigative programs on the issue broadcast by the major Japanese television networks was in the upper 50s combined. As to how they viewed these programs, the most common positive opinion they agreed with was that the programs "conveyed the voices of the victims."

When asked whether the broadcasters had responded to the criticism of "silence of the mass media" by airing such investigative programs, over 50% answered “no.” The most common reason selected for the negative view was that "the investigations into the background of the 'silence’ of the television stations' were insufficient."

Regarding the media’s news coverage of sexual violence in general, over 30% of the respondents agreed that the reporting was adequate, while over 50% disagreed. Among the options for　perceived problems in such coverage, over 40% chose "reporting is often too short-term."

In terms of what people expect from the media, the most favored choice was "reporting in a way that minimizes secondary victimization, such as attacks on victims on social media," followed by "spreading knowledge about the issue of sexual violence." Over 30% of the respondents selected the above and the following answers: "communicating the seriousness of the impact of secondary victimization when reporting on the issue of sexual violence," and "uncovering the facts through investigative reporting when victims come out to make allegations."

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In the past decade, media outlets worldwide have come under increasing scrutiny as a series of allegations of sexual misconduct by high-profile figures have emerged. This article examines the responses and remaining challenges using the UK public broadcaster, the BBC, as a case study. Following a major scandal involving its star Jimmy Savile in 2012, the BBC reviewed its culture and practices, including updates to its complaints and whistleblowing systems. However, the BBC continues to be mired in scandals concerning well-known ‘talent’ with power and fame. An independent review indicated that staff feel the corporation protects ‘top talent’ who bring ratings and popularity, and they cannot raise grievances out of fear that it may risk their careers.

As creative industries take steps to combat bullying and harassment, many hope that the newly presented ‘Standards’ by the Creative Industries Independent Standards Authority (CIISA) will serve as a bellwether for change. The CIISA Standards, which have received support from the UK government, set out the minimum standard of behaviour expected across the UK’s creative industries to promote safe and inclusive environments. The CIISA plans to support organisations in embedding these Standards in practice and eventually creating a system to help resolve concerns.

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