TV Asahi punishes execs over ex-bureaucrat’s anti-Abe outburst

Kyodo

TV Asahi has punished executives involved in producing the popular evening news program “Hodo Station” over surprise on-air comments by an ex-bureaucrat that were critical of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

Shinichi Yoshida, president of TV Asahi, told a news conference on Tuesday that three network executives — including the head of the department in charge of the news program — have been reprimanded over the incident, in which Shigeaki Koga said the broadcaster gave in to pressure from the Abe administration to pull him off the show.

Yoshida said what happened on the show was “inappropriate” as it caused confusion among viewers.

The disciplinary action, along with similar measures announced by NHK over one of its news programs, is a further blow to press freedom as the government continues to rein in broadcasters, experts said.

At TV Asahi, three other top executives, including Yoshida and Chairman Hiroshi Hayakawa, will voluntarily return 10 percent of their pay for a month.

During the March 27 live show, Koga, a former industry and economy ministry official, appeared as a guest commentator. He was asked to comment on news in the Middle East, but changed the subject and said he had been subjected to a heavy “bashing” by the prime minister’s office. He alleged that TV Asahi had given in to government pressure to stop using him on the show, a claim that made international headlines.

Later in the program he held up a piece of paper that said “I am not ABE,” displaying it to millions of viewers.

Koga’s criticism of the government drew the ire of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party. TV Asahi said political pressure had played no part in its decision to change the commentator lineup.

TV Asahi’s announcement came on the same day as similar moves to punish executives at NHK, which had also recently come under attack from the government over one of its news programs.

NHK said it will discipline 15 employees for their involvement in the program, “Close-up Gendai,” which aired last May and which weekly Shukan Bunshun alleged had included a fake interview.

The magazine quoted a contributor to the program as saying that an NHK reporter had asked him to pretend to be a broker in a fraud during a filmed interview, which he complied with.

An NHK panel that investigated the matter said Tuesday the episode included “excessive staging” but no fabrication.

Hiroyoshi Usui, a media professor at Sophia University in Tokyo, warned the scandal could exacerbate a “negative spiral” in broadcast media, in which the public loses trust in networks over bad reporting.

That could lead to journalists losing editorial freedoms and lowering the quality of their programs, he said.

“This is exactly in line with the wishes of the government, which wants to control the media,” he said.

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  • samarkand

    Shinichi Yoshida and TV Asahi have made a cowardly capitulation to government censorship. Any “confusion” among TV Asahi viewers is the result of a government that wants the people of Japan to live in ignorance.

    By intimidating and silencing the press, the government wants to suppress questioning of its militaristic and antidemocratic direction. By censoring textbooks and denying the consensus of historians, the government wants to erase the memory of the suffering and devastation that was caused by Japan’s previous experience with militarism and autocracy.

    Two sitting members of the Cabinet, Taro Aso and Sanae Takaichi, are on record as having praised and promoted Nazi tactics in Hitler’s takeover of Germany. While Shinzo Abe is skilled in not publicly saying things that sound too radical, his drive toward dismantling the constitution’s barriers against militarism, as well as his war against truth in attempting to silence the press and historians, are in plain view.

    It is not surprising that there are people who should wish to do this and not hesitate to use intimidation to get their way. What is tremendously regrettable is that so many with positions in society are allowing it to happen. It will take more people with the courage of Shigeaki Koga to prevent Japan from moving further toward a dark future.

  • Paul Martin

    I do not agree with what you have to say, but I’ll defend to the death your right to say it.
    Voltaire

    But there again he was French and a thorn in the side of French aristocracy……it was only after he moved to Britain that he could freely criticize without repercussions from the rich and powerful !

    There are those in power on this Planet who shudder at the very thought of anyone daring to oppose their views and speak the truth in any way, shape or form !

    The man who fears no truth has nothing to fear from lies.
    Thomas Jefferson

    • Bruce Chatwin

      Yes, he was free to criticize the French while he was in England.

      • Paul Martin

        Thanks Bruce !

  • Hendrix

    ” Yoshida said what happened on the show was “inappropriate” as it caused confusion among viewers”

    You mean that the viewers were in danger of waking up to the truck load of lies that have been served up to them by their own government? … yeah i guess they would be confused.

    • TomokoHasegawa

      Off to Lalaport, let’s shop and forget the irritations caused!

  • Japanese Bull Fighter

    When he threw his tantrum on air, Koga said he had a recording that proved he had been pressured. Subsequently, he made no mention of this recording. Perhaps the Japan Times can ask him to make his proof public.

  • Al_Martinez

    Only in Japan is a crystal clear expression of one’s opinion labeled as “confusing.”