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NHK's Decline into Propaganda
http://shingetsunewsagency.com/tokyo/?p=983
NHK’s Decline into Propaganda
Added by Michael Penn on December 23, 2014
SNA (Tokyo) —
<snip>
... foreign journalists are watching NHK emerge (or reemerge if you count the Tokyo Rose era) as a broadcaster noted more for Japanese nationalist political propaganda than as a source of genuine insight about happenings in this nation.
The most devastating single blow to NHK’s international reputation was the appointment of Katsuto Momii as chairman of the organization, and especially the outrageous comments that he made in his inaugural press conference in January. In particular, his comment that, “When the government is saying, ‘Right,’ we can’t say, ‘Left’” is understood by the rest of the world as a declaration that NHK broadcasts should be viewed merely as Japanese government propaganda, and therefore are not to be taken seriously.
Indeed, it is difficult to conceive of any possible remark that Mr. Momii could have made about his intentions that could have been more damaging to international perceptions of NHK. The fact that such a statement did not result in his immediate dismissal is taken by foreign journalists as representing the Abe government’s tacit approval of turning NHK into a propaganda organ for its rightwing ideology, especially in regard to historical revisionism surrounding the Pacific War.
The foreign media is now pursuing the “NHK story,” and a recent episode is a scoop by Richard Lloyd Parry of The Times, the venerable newspaper of London. A copy of an internal NHK document was leaked to Mr. Parry in which reporters and editors at NHK were instructed exactly what terms to use and to avoid when referring to sensitive matters such as Yasukuni Shrine, the Nanjing Massacre, or island disputes with China.
Mr. Parry’s article declares that the overall effect of the leaked document is that it “is seen as a surrender of editorial independence by Japan’s public broadcaster.” It appears to ban any sort of independent thought or opinion by NHK journalists; instead commanding them to parrot the diplomatic and political line of the Abe administration.
<snip>
A Japanese-language version of this article appeared in the November 7 issue of Shukan Kinyobi.
Source: Shingetsu News Agency
NHK’s Decline into Propaganda
Added by Michael Penn on December 23, 2014
SNA (Tokyo) —
<snip>
... foreign journalists are watching NHK emerge (or reemerge if you count the Tokyo Rose era) as a broadcaster noted more for Japanese nationalist political propaganda than as a source of genuine insight about happenings in this nation.
The most devastating single blow to NHK’s international reputation was the appointment of Katsuto Momii as chairman of the organization, and especially the outrageous comments that he made in his inaugural press conference in January. In particular, his comment that, “When the government is saying, ‘Right,’ we can’t say, ‘Left’” is understood by the rest of the world as a declaration that NHK broadcasts should be viewed merely as Japanese government propaganda, and therefore are not to be taken seriously.
Indeed, it is difficult to conceive of any possible remark that Mr. Momii could have made about his intentions that could have been more damaging to international perceptions of NHK. The fact that such a statement did not result in his immediate dismissal is taken by foreign journalists as representing the Abe government’s tacit approval of turning NHK into a propaganda organ for its rightwing ideology, especially in regard to historical revisionism surrounding the Pacific War.
The foreign media is now pursuing the “NHK story,” and a recent episode is a scoop by Richard Lloyd Parry of The Times, the venerable newspaper of London. A copy of an internal NHK document was leaked to Mr. Parry in which reporters and editors at NHK were instructed exactly what terms to use and to avoid when referring to sensitive matters such as Yasukuni Shrine, the Nanjing Massacre, or island disputes with China.
Mr. Parry’s article declares that the overall effect of the leaked document is that it “is seen as a surrender of editorial independence by Japan’s public broadcaster.” It appears to ban any sort of independent thought or opinion by NHK journalists; instead commanding them to parrot the diplomatic and political line of the Abe administration.
<snip>
A Japanese-language version of this article appeared in the November 7 issue of Shukan Kinyobi.
Source: Shingetsu News Agency
Via https://www.facebook.com/fukushima311watchdog/posts/708764972555137?_fb_noscript=1
