“We apologize for any inconvenience caused by the lack of consideration in posting the video,” went the NHK statement. This was the national broadcaster's lackluster apology for its tone deaf and racist depictions of black protesters in a video presented on the Sunday news show "Kore de Wakatta! Sekai no Ima” (“Now I Understand What’s Going On in the World”), which targets younger audiences. It was also posted to Twitter and taken down Tuesday after being maligned on social media and in the overseas press.
From its wording, I’m not sure whether NHK disagrees it was racist so refuses to acknowledge it, or remains unaware that it was racist despite responding to complaints of its blatant racism. Seriously. I don’t know which. But, for the record, both rationales are really bad.
What’s worse is that NHK is not the only media conglomerate exhibiting questionable judgement as to its coverage and analysis of Black Lives Matter protests, peaceful and otherwise, and stories emerging from around the globe regarding this uprising. TBS went as far as to actually give a platform to white supremacist — er, "advocate"? — Jared Taylor to talk about Black Lives Matter issues. Is that a powerful statement of its position on the question of whether our thoughts and feelings matter in Japan or what? And a couple of days later they double down by calling on Atsugiri Jason to speak on the topic and for black people. That's two strikes, TBS! Don’t get me wrong, being a white comedian doesn’t necessarily disqualify Jay from speaking on issues of police brutality. Anyone paying attention to the media knows this movement is far from black and white.