The content reported by the mass media creates a “picture in the head” of the public, and influences their sense of values and behavior. This is the theory that American political analyst Wilter Lippman announced in his book “Public Opinion” in 1922, about 100 years ago. This was demonstrated in the late 1960s by George Garbner, then dean of the University of Pennsylvania School of Communications, in a study of the effects of television viewing. At the time, there were three times as many men appearing on American television as women, and most of them were white. In addition, women were more likely to be younger than men, and it was common for women to play minor roles in programs along with non-white people and old people. In addition, most of the people who appear on TV are experts and managers, and it is said that only 25% of the people who appear in the real world are working people who account for nearly 70%.

Garbner’s research team examined the differences in attitudes and values between people who watch TV for a long time and those who don’t. It turned out that women thought that women were less interested in women than men. There is also a tendency to overestimate the number of specialists such as doctors and lawyers, and to believe that the number of elderly people is decreasing even though the number of healthy elderly people is increasing according to statistics.

The content reported by the mass media, mainly television, continues to have a significant impact on the values and judgments of many people, and the difference in values surrounding the wearing and removing of masks is a typical example. The situation has not changed at all since 100 years ago, when the mass media reports extensively, even if it is contrary to the facts or the truth is unknown, it is recognized as the truth by a certain number of people.

Allegations of sexual abuse by the late Johnny Kitagawa, the founder of Johnny & Associates, are currently making headlines in the media. Looking at the reality calmly, there is no clear evidence for the suspicion, and since Mr. Janney is also deceased, there is no way to substantiate it. No,” he testifies. However, such facts were completely ignored, and the so-called “devil’s proof” that “it must have happened because it cannot be proven that it did not exist” was reported, and many people believed that there was a perpetrator. It’s true.
By the way, the total number of fan club members belonging to Johnny’s has reached 13 million. The actual number is much smaller as there are people who have left the group or who have joined fan clubs in multiple groups, but it can still be said that it is one of the largest organizations in Japan. Therefore, there are many fans who are good at information gathering and dissemination, and they are disseminating information that contradicts media reports from their own chasing records and old pamphlets. If you look at them, you can see the composition that malicious people are attacking the office using the media. I’m not going to assert the truth, but as a fan, I can’t help but hope that the number of people who are danced by the media will decrease.