The term "fake news" has outlasted its usefulness. Originally coined to describe purposely false or exaggerated stories on the internet, the term now covers anything in the media that is deemed a lie. The internet is a scrum of competing opinions, and fake news that appears online can be contained to a certain extent. However, once it emerges in other, more circumscribed media, all bets are off. We tend to think of television news, regardless of its ideological prerogatives, as being vetted by a rational impulse.
The Jan. 2 edition of Tokyo MXTV's "News Joshi" ("News Girl") included a segment on protesters trying to stop the construction of helipads for the U.S. military in Okinawa. The premise of "News Joshi" is to present topical stories and then have a panel of young female TV personalities talk about them with a panel of male commentators, some of whom are experts. It's less a news show and more a conventional Japanese variety show, where the appeal is lively but not necessarily informed discussion.
The segment on the protests was reported by Kazuhiko Inoue, a self-described "military journalist" whose voluble presentation style is typical of show biz reporters seen on daytime "wide shows." Inoue went to Okinawa with a video crew, but he never engaged with protesters. Instead, he stood away from the action and explained why it was impossible to get closer. In one scene he lingers outside a tunnel saying that a protest was taking place on the other side but locals had told him it was "too dangerous." In another he said police prevented him from getting closer because the protest was "so violent." In the only scene that depicted protesters, albeit in the distance, Inoue said he would attempt to approach them, but the camera didn't show him doing that. Later, he revealed he couldn't get near the protesters because "they gave me such angry looks."