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This thesis has been submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for a postgraduate degree (e.g. PhD, MPhil, DClinPsychol) at the University of Edinburgh. Please note the following terms and conditions of use: This work is protected by copyright and other intellectual property rights, which are retained by the thesis author, unless otherwise stated. A copy can be downloaded for personal non-commercial research or study, without prior permission or charge. This thesis cannot be reproduced or quoted extensively from without first obtaining permission in writing from the author. The content must not be changed in any way or sold commercially in any format or medium without the formal permission of the author. When referring to this work, full bibliographic details including the author, title, awarding institution and date of the thesis must be given. The Narrativization of the Global Financial Crisis by the Japanese Press Roderick William McDougall s9464181 Japanese PhD University of Edinburgh 2018 Abstract The Global Financial Crisis of 2007 – 2008, culminating in the Lehman Shock on 15th September 2008, has been described as both a “once in a century event” and a “seismic shift” in global economics. Yet despite the exogenous nature of the crisis, it was Japan which felt the greatest impact to its economy. Public understanding and perception of such crises is highly dependent upon news coverage for their dissemination, opinion, and interpretation of unfolding events. However, in doing so, the news media are positioned as powerful gatekeepers dictating how events become populated with meaning and understood within the public consciousness. This is of particular concern to Japan where the kisha club system of journalism has been widely criticised for the cartelisation of information and the homogenization of news coverage. A common methodology to investigate this phenomenon within the field of Communication Research is Media Framing, however this has rarely been applied to non-Western primary sources. Likewise, despite the multidisciplinary nature of Japanese Studies, theories of Communication Research have not been widely used. I address these concerns through a joint quantitative and qualitative analysis of the Yomiuri Shimbun, Asahi Shimbun and Nikkei Shimbun over the two-year period following the Lehman Shock, employing Media Frame and Discourse Analysis methodologies. In doing so, I identify not only the narratives employed by the ‘big three’ newspapers of Japan, but also how the metaphor of the Lehman Shock crystalized over time, ready to be applied to subsequent economic crises. i ii Lay Summary How is meaning attributed to international economic events, and what is the role of the media in this process? This thesis addresses these questions through a case study of the Japanese experiences of the Global Financial Crisis of 2007/8. Specifically, I apply theories of media framing to newspaper coverage of the crisis, known at the Lehman Shock in Japan. Media framing theory suggests that, whether intentional or not, by including or leaving out certain pieces of information, newspapers shape news events. Furthermore, media framing provides the tools to locate and understand the variety of frames employed within the discourse, and how this changes over time. By utilising a quantitative media frame analysis of 400 news articles from the Yomiuri Shimbun, Asahi Shimbun and Nikkei Shimbun from 2008 until 2010, I undercover six distinct media frames through which the Lehman Shock was narrativized in the Japanese press. These are the Domestic Impact, International Setback, Global Crisis, Rocky Road, Domestic Impact and Global Solutions narratives. Through a subsequent critical discourse analysis-inspired close reading of the news articles, I identify interventionism as the dominant ideology underpinning the Japanese media’s representation of the crisis and its solutions. I also question prevailing assumptions of homogeneity within the Japanese press, providing a more nuanced understanding of how events are narrativized in the Japanese media which lays the foundations for future investigations into other major events. iii iv Declaration of Originality I declare that this thesis has been composed solely by myself and that it has not been submitted, in whole or in part, in any previous application for a degree. Except where stated otherwise by reference or acknowledgment, the work presented herein is entirely my own. Signed: ______________________________ Date: __13/08/18___ v vi Table of Contents Abstract ...................................................................................................................................... i Lay Summary............................................................................................................................ iii Declaration of Originality .......................................................................................................... v Table of Contents.................................................................................................................... vii List of Figures ........................................................................................................................... xi List of Tables ............................................................................................................................ xi Acknowledgements ................................................................................................................ xiii Notes on Style ..........................................................................................................................xv Chapter 1 - Introduction ........................................................................................................... 1 The Origins of the Lehman Shock ......................................................................................... 4 News Media in General ........................................................................................................ 9 News Media in Japan .......................................................................................................... 14 Chapter 2 - Critical Review of Media Framing ........................................................................ 23 Media Framing .................................................................................................................... 23 Pre-1993 Framing Definitions ......................................................................................... 24 A New Definition of Framing .......................................................................................... 35 Frame Treatment ................................................................................................................ 41 Generic versus Issue-Specific Frames ............................................................................. 41 Deductive versus Inductive Methodology ...................................................................... 43 Criticism of Framing ............................................................................................................ 48 vii The Critical Component ......................................................................................................53 Power ..............................................................................................................................53 Discourse .........................................................................................................................58 Research Questions .............................................................................................................68 Chapter 3 – Methods, Analysis and Results ............................................................................69 Methods ..............................................................................................................................69 News Article Selection ....................................................................................................69 Code Book Creation ........................................................................................................75 Coding Process ................................................................................................................77 Analysis ................................................................................................................................79 Results .................................................................................................................................82 Establishment Phase [Sample 1: September – December 2008] ...................................87 Consolidation Phase [Samples 2 & 3: July – September 2009] .......................................88 Maturation Phase [Samples 4 & 5: May 2010, July – September 2010] ........................89 Chapter 4 – The First Narrative Phase of the Lehman Shock: The Establishment Phase .......91 The Domestic Impact Narrative ..........................................................................................92 The International Setback Narrative .................................................................................102 The Global Crisis Narrative ................................................................................................118 The Rocky Road Narrative .................................................................................................127 The Domestic Recovery Narrative ....................................................................................133