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Japan Gets Its Very Own Fox News
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-02-06/japan-gets-its-very-own-fox-news.html
Japan Gets Its Very Own Fox News
By William Pesek Feb 6, 2014
You know your reputation in North Asia has hit rock bottom when a dictator who recently executed his uncle thinks you’re dangerous. Kim Jong Un’s comparison of Shinzo Abe to Adolf Hitler should prompt a moment of solemn reflection for Japan’s leader.
<snip>
South Korea is equally enraged by Abe’s questionable grasp of history. Last September in Seoul, President Park Geun Hye snapped at U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel when he encouraged her to improve ties with Abe’s Japan, a fellow U.S. ally. “If Germany had continued to say things that inflicted pain, while acting as if all was well, would European integration have been possible?” Park asked Hagel. “I think the answer is no.” Park reportedly lectured Hagel about Abe’s “total absence of sincerity.”
<snip>
Late last year, as Abe was rushing a chilling government secrecy bill into law, he was also packing the board of governors of NHK -- akin to a Japanese BBC -- with like-minded conservatives. The 12-member board is appointed by parliament, but influenced heavily by the prime minister’s wish list. Among Abe’s picks were novelist Naoki Hyakuta (who sparked a firestorm this week by claiming that the brutal Nanjing Massacre never happened); Michiko Hasegawa, who says women’s place in society is at home raising kids; and Director-General Katsuto Momii, who’s now Japan’s answer to Fox News honcho Roger Ailes.
<snip>
“We cannot say left when the government says right,” Momii told reporters, arguing that it’s “only natural” for the network to follow official government narratives.
Actually, no, it’s not. The media in a democracy exists to police governments, even those largely footing the bill. Instead Abe now has his own Fox News-like propaganda arm to propagate and reinforce his views. And the costs of this mindset are already becoming apparent.
<snip>
Japan Gets Its Very Own Fox News
By William Pesek Feb 6, 2014
You know your reputation in North Asia has hit rock bottom when a dictator who recently executed his uncle thinks you’re dangerous. Kim Jong Un’s comparison of Shinzo Abe to Adolf Hitler should prompt a moment of solemn reflection for Japan’s leader.
<snip>
South Korea is equally enraged by Abe’s questionable grasp of history. Last September in Seoul, President Park Geun Hye snapped at U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel when he encouraged her to improve ties with Abe’s Japan, a fellow U.S. ally. “If Germany had continued to say things that inflicted pain, while acting as if all was well, would European integration have been possible?” Park asked Hagel. “I think the answer is no.” Park reportedly lectured Hagel about Abe’s “total absence of sincerity.”
<snip>
Late last year, as Abe was rushing a chilling government secrecy bill into law, he was also packing the board of governors of NHK -- akin to a Japanese BBC -- with like-minded conservatives. The 12-member board is appointed by parliament, but influenced heavily by the prime minister’s wish list. Among Abe’s picks were novelist Naoki Hyakuta (who sparked a firestorm this week by claiming that the brutal Nanjing Massacre never happened); Michiko Hasegawa, who says women’s place in society is at home raising kids; and Director-General Katsuto Momii, who’s now Japan’s answer to Fox News honcho Roger Ailes.
<snip>
“We cannot say left when the government says right,” Momii told reporters, arguing that it’s “only natural” for the network to follow official government narratives.
Actually, no, it’s not. The media in a democracy exists to police governments, even those largely footing the bill. Instead Abe now has his own Fox News-like propaganda arm to propagate and reinforce his views. And the costs of this mindset are already becoming apparent.
<snip>
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