After 17 years' experience as a top-flight news reporter both at home and abroad, in 1991 Seiichi Kanise began a 10-year stint as a TV news anchorman. Then, after covering a wide range of news events, in 2003 he accepted an offer from the Tokyo-based Bunka Hoso (Nippon Cultural Broadcasting Inc.) radio station to anchor "Next!," a prime-time morning news program launched in April that year.
Reflecting on his television experience, 54-year-old Kanise is in no doubt that during the 1990s, political coverage on television came to play an increasingly important role in Japanese society. However, his concern is over the balance between form and content.
"Visual images with a strong impact have become more important in political coverage on TV than the contents of the report itself. It's as if the wrapping paper has become more important than the thing it's wrapping," is how he put it.
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