Japanese journalists need to better perform their duties as government watchdogs, according to a former Mainichi Shimbun reporter.
"Civilian control in Japan has retreated in line with the intensification of its military power and press restraints," said 70-year-old Takichi Nishiyama, who broke the news about secret deals between the United States and Japan over the 1972 reversion of Okinawa to Japanese rule.
"Media should not submit to negotiations with the authorities or compromise with them," he said, urging journalists to keep the power of public authorities in check.
Nishiyama's comments come as the Diet deliberates a set of bills that have been criticized as the government's veiled attempt at tightening control over the mass media.