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Effort by Japan to Stifle News Media Is Working
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/27/world/asia/in-japan-bid-to-stifle-media-is-working.html
Effort by Japan to Stifle News Media Is Working
By MARTIN FACKLER APRIL 26, 2015
TOKYO It was an unexpected act of protest that shook Japans carefully managed media world: Shigeaki Koga, a regular television commentator and fierce critic of the political establishment, abruptly departed from the scripted conversation during a live TV news program to announce that this would be his last day on the show because, as he put it, network executives had succumbed to political pressure for his removal.
<snip>
The outburst created a public firestorm, and not only because of the spectacle of Mr. Koga, a dour-faced former top government official, seemingly throwing away his career as a television commentator in front of millions of viewers. His angry show of defiance also focused national attention on the right-leaning governments increased strong-arming of the news media to reduce critical coverage.
<snip>
Mr. Abes efforts have had a chilling effect on coverage at a time when he is pushing ahead with a conservative agenda to dismantle the nations postwar pacifist consensus and put forth more positive portrayals of Japans World War II-era behavior. Experts warn that muzzling the press makes it easier for the government to make big changes that might not enjoy broad popular support, such as rewriting the pacifist Constitution, or even restarting the nations stalled nuclear industry.
<snip>
This is a point conceded by many Japanese journalists, who say they have no choice but to get along with a prime minister who appears set to remain in power for several years in the absence of credible opposition. Other journalists say they do not want to suffer the fate of The Asahi Shimbun, a liberal newspaper that came under fierce criticism last fall and seemed to capitulate by cutting back on critical, investigative coverage of sensitive issues like the 2011 Fukushima nuclear accident.
Scholars describe a mood of fear spreading beyond the news media into the broader society, including in education where the Abe government is pressing textbook publishers to adhere more closely to the official line on topics like the 1937 Nanjing massacre and the use of so-called comfort women in wartime military brothels.
<snip>
Effort by Japan to Stifle News Media Is Working
By MARTIN FACKLER APRIL 26, 2015
TOKYO It was an unexpected act of protest that shook Japans carefully managed media world: Shigeaki Koga, a regular television commentator and fierce critic of the political establishment, abruptly departed from the scripted conversation during a live TV news program to announce that this would be his last day on the show because, as he put it, network executives had succumbed to political pressure for his removal.
<snip>
The outburst created a public firestorm, and not only because of the spectacle of Mr. Koga, a dour-faced former top government official, seemingly throwing away his career as a television commentator in front of millions of viewers. His angry show of defiance also focused national attention on the right-leaning governments increased strong-arming of the news media to reduce critical coverage.
<snip>
Mr. Abes efforts have had a chilling effect on coverage at a time when he is pushing ahead with a conservative agenda to dismantle the nations postwar pacifist consensus and put forth more positive portrayals of Japans World War II-era behavior. Experts warn that muzzling the press makes it easier for the government to make big changes that might not enjoy broad popular support, such as rewriting the pacifist Constitution, or even restarting the nations stalled nuclear industry.
<snip>
This is a point conceded by many Japanese journalists, who say they have no choice but to get along with a prime minister who appears set to remain in power for several years in the absence of credible opposition. Other journalists say they do not want to suffer the fate of The Asahi Shimbun, a liberal newspaper that came under fierce criticism last fall and seemed to capitulate by cutting back on critical, investigative coverage of sensitive issues like the 2011 Fukushima nuclear accident.
Scholars describe a mood of fear spreading beyond the news media into the broader society, including in education where the Abe government is pressing textbook publishers to adhere more closely to the official line on topics like the 1937 Nanjing massacre and the use of so-called comfort women in wartime military brothels.
<snip>
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Effort by Japan to Stifle News Media Is Working (Original Post)
bananas
Apr 2015
OP
bananas
(27,509 posts)1. Summons of Japanese media raises complaints of interference
http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2015/apr/17/summons-of-japans-media-raises-complaints-of/
Summons of Japanese media raises complaints of interference
By MARI YAMAGUCHI Associated Press
April 17, 2015
TOKYO (AP) Japan's ruling party summoned executives from two leading television networks Friday, the latest in a series of actions that opponents say endanger press freedom and intimidate the media.
The Liberal Democratic Party's panel on information and communications strategy questioned the executives from Asahi TV and public broadcaster NHK about two separate programs at the party's headquarters.
In one program, an Asahi commentator made remarks critical of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's office, while another program on NHK allegedly contained staged material.
<snip>
Media watchers and political analysts say mainstream media have been shunning critical reporting to avoid trouble with officials who are increasingly touchy about how Japan and government policies are portrayed by both domestic and foreign media.
Koichi Nakano, an international politics professor at Sophia University in Tokyo, said Abe's government is promoting a revisionist view of Japan's wartime military atrocities, and is steering public opinion to support divisive policies such as expanding the military's role and revising the country's war-renouncing constitution.
<snip>
Summons of Japanese media raises complaints of interference
By MARI YAMAGUCHI Associated Press
April 17, 2015
TOKYO (AP) Japan's ruling party summoned executives from two leading television networks Friday, the latest in a series of actions that opponents say endanger press freedom and intimidate the media.
The Liberal Democratic Party's panel on information and communications strategy questioned the executives from Asahi TV and public broadcaster NHK about two separate programs at the party's headquarters.
In one program, an Asahi commentator made remarks critical of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's office, while another program on NHK allegedly contained staged material.
<snip>
Media watchers and political analysts say mainstream media have been shunning critical reporting to avoid trouble with officials who are increasingly touchy about how Japan and government policies are portrayed by both domestic and foreign media.
Koichi Nakano, an international politics professor at Sophia University in Tokyo, said Abe's government is promoting a revisionist view of Japan's wartime military atrocities, and is steering public opinion to support divisive policies such as expanding the military's role and revising the country's war-renouncing constitution.
<snip>
bananas
(27,509 posts)2. Japanese journalists are being muzzled under Abe, warns media commentator
http://www.scmp.com/news/asia/article/1770137/japanese-journalists-are-being-muzzled-under-abe-warns-media-commentator
Japanese journalists are being muzzled under Abe, warns media commentator
Journalists under growing pressure to put administration in a positive light, commentator claims
Julian Ryall in Tokyo
PUBLISHED : Sunday, 19 April, 2015, 1:37am
UPDATED : Tuesday, 21 April, 2015, 9:55am
Fears of a crisis in press freedom are growing in Japan with accusations the government is ramping up pressure on journalists to "toe the line" and claims that news outlets are no longer "putting up a fight".
<snip>
The most brazen example was Abe's appointment in January 2014 of Katsuto Momii, a like-minded conservative, as chairman of national broadcaster NHK.
<snip>
Apparently emboldened by the cowing of the domestic press, the Abe administration has attempted to exert similar pressure on foreign reporters.
Carsten Germis, the Tokyo correspondent for Germany's Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, claims the administration ignores the foreign media because they ask awkward questions about nuclear energy, the risks associated with Abenomics, revision of the constitution and depopulation.
Japanese journalists are being muzzled under Abe, warns media commentator
Journalists under growing pressure to put administration in a positive light, commentator claims
Julian Ryall in Tokyo
PUBLISHED : Sunday, 19 April, 2015, 1:37am
UPDATED : Tuesday, 21 April, 2015, 9:55am
Fears of a crisis in press freedom are growing in Japan with accusations the government is ramping up pressure on journalists to "toe the line" and claims that news outlets are no longer "putting up a fight".
<snip>
The most brazen example was Abe's appointment in January 2014 of Katsuto Momii, a like-minded conservative, as chairman of national broadcaster NHK.
<snip>
Apparently emboldened by the cowing of the domestic press, the Abe administration has attempted to exert similar pressure on foreign reporters.
Carsten Germis, the Tokyo correspondent for Germany's Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, claims the administration ignores the foreign media because they ask awkward questions about nuclear energy, the risks associated with Abenomics, revision of the constitution and depopulation.
davidpdx
(22,000 posts)3. I've heard of similar issues here in Korea
We also have a conservative president. While I rant and rave pretty hard on Facebook about my dislike for the current administration in Korea, I try to watch what I say in person or other than on Facebook.