The current Self-Defense Forces scandal provides a glimpse into the mechanics of how such stories get reported. It appears that an insider at the Maritime Self-Defense Force sent information to the Mainichi Shimbun about personal data that an officer was compiling on people who made requests to the MSDF for information disclosure.
The Mainichi was the first newspaper to report the story, in its morning edition of May 28. All the other newspapers reported the same news in their afternoon editions of the same day, though they didn't specifically state that the Mainichi broke the story, only that such news "had been reported."
Armed with the personal data list itself, the Mainichi called officials in the SDF and the Defense Agency (as well as some people on the list, who were understandably shocked to find themselves there) and asked them about it. Faced with irrefutable proof, none of the officials could deny the data-gathering charge; instead they called a press conference. The scandal took on a life of its own and grew accordingly, leading to calls for the resignation of Defense Agency chief Gen Nakatani.
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