It's difficult to get a balanced perspective on the public-relations crisis surrounding Toyota Motor Corporation's current global recall, which mostly involves its popular Prius hybrid.
When you're the world's No. 1 carmaker it's natural to expect a backlash when something goes wrong. What makes the situation different is that there are two fronts to the PR war, one in Japan, where the company is headquartered, and one in the United States, its most important overseas market.
The conflict is being characterized as one between American authorities and Toyota's management, but since Toyota has acquiesced to the U.S. government's demands for answers regarding the recalls, albeit not as promptly as some people would like, the real conflict is between the American media and the Japanese media, even if they never actually face each other.