Japan Connection
Communication Chair Builds Japan Connection
Professor Ron Smith, chair of the Communication Department, is building contacts with communication educators in Japan. On an Asian visit, he met with the head of media studies at Doshisha University in Kyoto, one of only four universities in Japan with a comprehensive communication program. The contact may lead eventually to student exchanges and study tours.
Smith met with Professor Takesato Watanabe, professor of media ethics and author of A Public Betrayed: An Inside Look at Japanese Media Atrocities and Their Warnings to the West (2005, Regnery Publishing).
Smith and Watanabe discussed similarities and differences between Japanese and American media, particularly the varying levels of public confidence in the news media. In Japan, 88 percent of the public reports trust in the information in newspapers, despite observations that reporting is generally dull and biased toward government and corporations. In the U.S. the confidence rating is 20 percent.
Smith also met with Professor Yoshinuri Kawasaki, chair of journalism at Doshisha University. The two discussed the state of journalism education in both countries.
Upon his return to Buffalo, Smith met with students in Dr. Rik Whitaker's International Communication class to share his observations and insights into Japanese media.
(Spring 2005)