On reading your March 30 article on the annual Taiji dolphin hunt ("A HREF="http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/fl20080330x1.html">Secret film will show slaughter to the world"), I could not stop wondering from what point does healthy journalism unafraid of telling things that other papers do not enter the realm of tabloid sensationalism. I appreciate The Japan Times' coverage of the dolphin hunt since it was here that I learned of such a terrible practice to begin with. But one thing that has frustrated me is that no article seems to offer any insight into how this practice is made into a key local industry that even the central government needs to officially sanction.
It is not difficult to guess that the sanctioning of dolphin killing in the tiny town of Taiji is important for lawmakers representing the constituency in local and central politics. But how much can this annual hunt really benefit local citizens? Is it not a convenient replacement for more permanent measures to secure employment, which politics should be striving to do?
These are things I can only speculate, but something The Japan Times can and should be investigating. Remember, no journalism can rival a pretty soap opera star weeping over the slaughter when it comes to sensationalizing its cruelty.
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