NHK chief defends broadcaster amid 'Abe channel' claims

[bananas]

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2015/10/02/national/media-national/nhk-chief-defends-broadcaster-amid-abe-channel-claims/

NHK chief defends broadcaster amid ‘Abe channel’ claims

Kyodo Oct 2, 2015

NHK chairman Katsuhito Momii hit out at online criticism Thursday, in which the broadcaster was called the “Abe channel” in reference to its coverage of politics, saying it promoted “political neutrality.”

“We are often called the (Prime Minister Shinzo) Abe channel online, but there is no government interference in our coverage,” Momii said at a news conference at NHK. “I don’t think our coverage is biased.”

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Momii also talked about the possibility of using the My Number system at NHK to access detailed data on subscribers, which could potentially help it recoup outstanding fees. The My Number system will come into effect for all residents in Japan in January for tax and social security purposes.

About 76 percent of subscribers paid the NHK license fee as of the end of 2014.

<snip>

What a joke. Subscribers should get a refund - they were told it would be news, instead it's Abe neocon propaganda.

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1. NHK’s Decline into Propaganda

Posted last December: http://www.democraticunderground.com/1016109715

http://shingetsunewsagency.com/tokyo/?p=983

NHK’s Decline into Propaganda
Added by Michael Penn on December 23, 2014

SNA (Tokyo) —

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... foreign journalists are watching NHK emerge (or reemerge if you count the Tokyo Rose era) as a broadcaster noted more for Japanese nationalist political propaganda than as a source of genuine insight about happenings in this nation.

The most devastating single blow to NHK’s international reputation was the appointment of Katsuto Momii as chairman of the organization, and especially the outrageous comments that he made in his inaugural press conference in January. In particular, his comment that, “When the government is saying, ‘Right,’ we can’t say, ‘Left’” is understood by the rest of the world as a declaration that NHK broadcasts should be viewed merely as Japanese government propaganda, and therefore are not to be taken seriously.

Indeed, it is difficult to conceive of any possible remark that Mr. Momii could have made about his intentions that could have been more damaging to international perceptions of NHK. The fact that such a statement did not result in his immediate dismissal is taken by foreign journalists as representing the Abe government’s tacit approval of turning NHK into a propaganda organ for its rightwing ideology, especially in regard to historical revisionism surrounding the Pacific War.

The foreign media is now pursuing the “NHK story,” and a recent episode is a scoop by Richard Lloyd Parry of The Times, the venerable newspaper of London. A copy of an internal NHK document was leaked to Mr. Parry in which reporters and editors at NHK were instructed exactly what terms to use and to avoid when referring to sensitive matters such as Yasukuni Shrine, the Nanjing Massacre, or island disputes with China.

Mr. Parry’s article declares that the overall effect of the leaked document is that it “is seen as a surrender of editorial independence by Japan’s public broadcaster.” It appears to ban any sort of independent thought or opinion by NHK journalists; instead commanding them to parrot the diplomatic and political line of the Abe administration.

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A Japanese-language version of this article appeared in the November 7 issue of Shukan Kinyobi.

Source: Shingetsu News Agency

Via https://www.facebook.com/fukushima311watchdog/posts/708764972555137?_fb_noscript=1

[Jesus Malverde]

2. Mega lulz

dumbasses

[bananas]

3. My Number system raises red flags in Japan ahead of notice release

http://www.democraticunderground.com/113312474