JAPAN / Politics

Media fire back at LDP for targeting revenue of newspapers critical of security bills

The Friday morning editions of The Okinawa Times and Ryukyu Shimpo lead with novelist Naoki Hyakuta's inflammatory remarks at a Liberal Democratic Party gathering Thursday calling for 'destroying the two Okinawan newspapers' critical of the government's contentious national security bills. A group of LDP lawmakers said media outlets should have their ad revenues 'taken out' if they criticize the government. | KYODO

By Mizuho Aoki, Masaaki Kameda and Magdalena Osumi
Staff Writers

Jun 26, 2015

Recent calls from the younger ranks of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's Liberal Democratic Party to "punish" media critical of the government's contentious national security bills have sparked an industry outcry, providing ammunition to the opposition and even raising the eyebrows of veteran ruling party lawmakers.

During Thursday's gathering of a group of young LDP lawmakers close to Abe, attendees bashed media organizations for criticizing the security legislation being debated in the Diet, saying an effective way to "punish those media is to take out their ad revenues."

To quell the situation, Abe on Friday expressed regret over the alleged remarks.

Media fire back at LDP for targeting revenue of newspapers critical of security bills

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