It was a rare role reversal for the influential Asahi Shimbun — which is known for exposing wrongdoing in high places — when its president stood before cameras to bow, apologize and pledge to restore his organization's credibility.
Tadakazu Kimura told more than 100 reporters packed into a second-floor room at Asahi headquarters in Tokyo that the newspaper was withdrawing a controversial article on the Fukushima nuclear crisis that it now said was erroneous. It was also apologizing for belatedly retracting decades-old articles on wartime sexual slavery that were based on an account later discovered to be fictitious.
The self-inflicted wounds to the 135-year-old liberal media flagship are casting doubt on whether it can regain credibility.