Peran KISHA Club dalam Politik Jepang Studi Kasus: Skandal “Money Politics” LDP Periode 1970 - awal 1990

ADHA, Nana Kurnia Astuti, Nana Kurnia Astuti Adha

2006 | Skripsi | Ilmu Hubungan Internasional

The media, society and state are the key elements in a democratic system where the interaction between these elements will perform certain impacts upon the political system. In social and political science studies, media has been considered as the fourth estate of democracy guarding the government. This task is endorsed when other bodies (non governmental institutions) are unable to perform such duty. Independence thus becomes a prerequisite in order to ensure that the media operates within a free atmosphere without any pressure, domination or other form of intervention from the government. The freedom needed so that the media could maintain its critical position toward the policies, political decisions, as well as other decisions made by the government. Meanwhile it must also sharpen its sensitivity and propensity toward the public’s rights. Kisha club as an institution created for the reporters coming from Japanese mainstream media such as Yomiuri, Asahi Shinbun, Mainichi, Sankei and Nikkei is a pivotal element in Japanese media studied in this paper. It guarantees an equal news distribution only for those reporters who possess memberships in kisha clubs and regularly feeds them with official versions released by the government agencies, political parties, businesses, non governmental organizations and other institutions. Hence it excludes those who are not members of kisha clubs such as Japanese freelancers and foreign journalists. In this matter there is a form of information distribution control by a party, which is the government. The intimate relations between kisha club journalists and the government could be argued as one of the causes of the Japanese media dependence upon officials while carrying its watchdog role toward the government. The interpersonal relations develop into obstruction that ensnares kisha club journalists in a dilemmatic position when they restrain to be critical in reporting and writing news.

Kata Kunci : Politik Uang; Jepang