On Oct. 1, the Sankei Shimbun reported that during a regularly scheduled press conference, NHK President Katsuto Momii addressed statements made by "former NHK employees" who told media outlets that the public broadcaster had "received phone calls from the prime minister's office" regarding passage of the contentious security bills in September.
Momii insisted these phone calls "never happened," and that "there was no interference at all." NHK's coverage of the bills' passage had not been biased in favor of the government, he added.
"We work every day to make sure we are impartial and fair, because we want people to trust us," he said. "So please stop using the word 'Abechanneru.'"