In media like TV and newspapers, it appears certain classes of people can be
referred to with the honorific "様":

The Imperial family:

> [皇太子殿下と美智子さま](http://showa.mainichi.jp/news/1959/04/post-da93.html) The
> Crown Prince and Michiko-sama

Celebrities with avid followers:

>
> [ヨン様、敗訴](http://www.sponichi.co.jp/entertainment/news/2011/06/22/kiji/K20110622001070020.html)
> Yong-sama (Bae Yong-joon) loses suit
>
> [ガガ様は「一発屋」](http://www.news24.jp/entertainment/news/1617974.html) Gaga-sama
> (Lady Gaga) is "a one-hit wonder"

**My questions are:**

  * Do these categories cover all usage of 様 in the mass media?
  * How should I interpret the reporter's intention in using the title? How is the nuance different from the usage of 様 when addressing the recipient of an email?

* * *

Related:
[芸能人・スポーツ選手・公人に「さん」などの敬称を付けなくてもよい理由は?](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/questions/1549/)
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honorifics
When is a person referred to with 様 in the mass media and what does it signify?
Well, if the person is (positively) important and deserves respect (or is
related to the company for which you work), then you can put "様" instead of
the status (president, CEO, whatever). You don't have to, but it shows that
the media you represent bows before the person in question. I guess it's the
same (though with less rigorous rules) than the one you use in personal
communications.

As for the "others", a quick google check tells me it's not what I'd call used
by "mass media" (unless they quote-and-translate a someone praising him).
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2011-06-29T06:03:08.650
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Most mass media refer to the members of the imperial family with one of the
honorifics さま, [陛下
(へいか)](http://dic.yahoo.co.jp/dsearch?enc=UTF-8&p=%E9%99%9B%E4%B8%8B&dtype=0&dname=0ss&stype=0&pagenum=1&index=117534000000)
and [殿下
(でんか)](http://dic.yahoo.co.jp/dsearch?enc=UTF-8&p=%E6%AE%BF%E4%B8%8B&dtype=0&dname=0ss&stype=0&index=113566200000&pagenum=1).
[Article 23 of the Imperial House
Act](http://law.e-gov.go.jp/htmldata/S22/S22HO003.html#1000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000002300000000000000000000000000000)
regulates that the honorific for the emperor, the empress, the empress dowager
and the grand empress dowager is 陛下 and that the honorific for the other
members of the imperial family is 殿下, so I guess that when mass media use 陛下
and 殿下, they follow this distinction. I do not know how the mass media decide
when to use さま and when to use 陛下/殿下.

In the case of celebrities, mass media sometimes refer to them in the way fans
call them. This is why mass media sometimes refer to Bae Yong-joon as ヨン様,
Arnold Schwarzenegger as シュワちゃん, Aya Matsuura as あやや, and so on. I do not know
why the fans of Bae Yong-joon call him ヨン様 in the first place.
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2011-06-29T06:44:09.940
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Regarding my original statement: actually, I was working entirely from memory
(from quite a while back) in my comment... and might very possibly be
misremembering. ;-)

First off, upon further reflection, I don't think it was ever `ビンラデン様`, but
rather: `ビンラデン氏【ビンラデンし】`, which is still surprising for an avowed mass-
murderer. Why was he being referred to with an honorific (し) or even nothing
at all, when even the most casual petty-fraudster politician gets `容疑者【ようぎしゃ】`
(e.g. `中村容疑者`).

After checking and googling around, I could not find back that article/comment
I remember reading about this, but the gist of it was: Japanese media are
stickler for rules and, having not been _formally_ convicted or even indicted
for any crime, even a guy like Bin Laden was not eligible for a pejorative
suffix.

Unfortunately I do not have any official source to link to. Perhaps somebody
better versed in official media guidelines could enlighten us.
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I think you'll find that use of honorifics by the media will closely follow
how normal people refer to the people in question. If in normal conversation,
a stranger would call them なんとか様 then the media will follow suit.

As Tsuyoshi Ito said, if fans call a celebrity 様 then the news is going to
follow suit when reporting on them. It's almost a part of their personality at
that point.
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