Tag - press-freedom

 
 

PRESS FREEDOM

COMMENTARY / World
May 21, 2016
Governments paranoid over free media
Many of the world's leaders are developing a form of paranoia about legitimate journalism.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Apr 23, 2016
On the money: Hitting TV where it hurts
Earlier this month, the Association of Television Viewers Who Demand Compliance With the Broadcast Law announced that it may launch a "national campaign" targeting TBS, which it accuses of biased news reporting. Should the broadcaster fail to address the accusation, the association will ask sponsors...
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Apr 23, 2016
Ebb tide for press freedoms in Shinzo Abe's Japan
A perfect storm is descending on freedom of the press in Japan: The country just sank to No. 72 in the global press freedom ranking issued Wednesday by Reporters Without Borders, down from No. 11 in 2010. And David Kaye, the U.N. special rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom...
JAPAN
Apr 21, 2016
Japan's government defends against multiple accusations of stifling press freedom
The government is on the back foot in the wake of mounting global criticism to the effect that the administration of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is threatening press freedom in Japan.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
Mar 24, 2016
Government, media equally to blame in debate on free speech, say journalists
Veteran Japanese journalists have stepped up their criticism of communications minister Sanae Takaichi over her comments that the government can suspend broadcasters' operations if they air what it considers politically-biased programs.
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Jan 23, 2016
Hiroko Kuniya's ouster deals another blow to quality journalism in Japan
Hiroko Kuniya, the widely respected anchor for NHK's stellar "Close-up Gendai" news analysis program, has been ousted from her position after 23 years with the show. She now joins a growing list of prominent news presenters and commentators who have discovered the apparent perils of not kowtowing to...
JAPAN / Politics
Jun 26, 2015
Media fire back at LDP for targeting revenue of newspapers critical of security bills
Calls from the younger ranks of the LDP to “punish” media organizations critical of the national security bills “by taking their ad revenues” sparks an industry outcry.
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
May 16, 2015
Are forces of darkness gathering in Japan?
Certainly it's worse in China, South Korean security recently beat demonstrators and Spain faces a blanket gag rule, but are concerns about the anti-democratic forces of darkness in Japan unduly alarmist? How bad can it be if protestors in Hibiya Park can carry placards depicting Prime Minister Shinzo...
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
May 2, 2015
Foreign media feels the heat from prickly government minders
Last month, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung journalist Carsten Germis wrote about the Japanese government harassing him just for doing his job. In his view, the government of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is overly sensitive to criticism, especially reporting about what Germis calls "a move by the right to...
JAPAN / Politics
Apr 17, 2015
LDP grills TV executives but denies use of pressure tactics
A Liberal Democratic Party panel conducts a closed-door meeting with NHK and TV Asahi executives to demand “explanations” about their troubles, raising suspicions of state intimidation.
JAPAN / Politics
Apr 10, 2015
Popular news program hit by LDP demand for 'neutral' coverage of 'Abenomics'
The LDP pressured major broadcaster TV Asahi to run “fair and neutral” programs about “Abenomics” ahead of the Lower House election in 2014, it is learned.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Apr 4, 2015
Koga's parting shot may not hit its target
In February, Reporters Without Borders published its annual list of countries ranked in terms of press freedom. Japan came in at No. 61, down two places from the previous year and lower than Taiwan (51) and South Korea (60). The reason for the decline was the state secrets act, which came into force...
JAPAN / Media / DARK SIDE OF THE RISING SUN
Feb 28, 2015
The candy, the whip and freedom of press in Japan
We are familiar with the carrot-and-stick approach in the West, but the phrase in Japan is "ame to muchi" — literally, the candy and the whip.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 16, 2015
Press freedoms threatened
A former British ambassador to Japan hopes that Japanese as well as British cartoonists continue to expose the pomposity, hypocrisy and inadequacies of their politicians, warning that press freedom can never be taken for granted.
COMMENTARY / Japan / COUNTERPOINT
Dec 13, 2014
Abe's secrets law undermines Japan's democracy
On Dec. 10, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's new special secrets law took effect despite overwhelming public opposition.

Longform

Professional cleaner Hirofumi Sakurai takes a moment to appreciate some photographs in a Gotanda apartment whose occupant died alone. 
The last cleanup: Life and death in a lonely Japan