(Japan) Barakan says broadcasters told him to avoid nuclear issues till after poll

[kristopher]

Regarding the Feb 9th election for Governor of the Prefecture (like a state) of Tokyo.

Barakan says broadcasters told him to avoid nuclear issues till after poll
by Tomoko Otake Jan 22, 2014

Freelance TV and radio commentator Peter Barakan said he was pressured by two broadcast stations to steer clear of nuclear power issues on his programs until after the Tokyo gubernatorial election on Feb. 9, causing concern among some about possible media censorship.

Barakan, who hosts the three-hour radio show “Barakan Morning” every Monday through Thursday on InterFM, a private radio station, mentioned the “requests” on his live show Monday but didn’t identify the stations. Nor did he say when or why the requests were made.

“I have been told by two stations (other than InterFM) not to touch on the nuclear issue until the gubernatorial election is over, even though the campaign has not officially kicked off,” he said during the show.

In no time, listeners were posting comments, particularly on Twitter, expressing their shock and outrage at the possible restraint on freedom of speech. Contacted by The Japan Times on Wednesday, Barakan said he was taken aback by the uproar but preferred not to go into detail about the matter. In addition to “Barakan Morning,” he hosts several other news and music shows on radio and TV, including for NHK.

“What happened was, I made a very casual comment on my program...

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2014/01/22/national/barakan-says-broadcasters-told-him-to-avoid-nuclear-issues-till-after-poll/#.UuF0cHn0Ay4

Can’t bury the nuclear issue
JAN 23, 2014

...The nuclear issue has assumed great importance because former Prime Minister Morihiro Hosokawa has entered the race with the backing of former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and is running on a “zero nuclear” platform — a stance shared by Koizumi. Both Hosokawa and fellow candidate Kenji Utsunomiya, a former head of the Japan Federation of Bar Associations, are calling for the immediate halt of nuclear power generation. They oppose the Abe administration’s plan to restart idled nuclear power plants if their safety is confirmed by the Nuclear Regulation Authority.

Candidate Yoichi Masuzoe,a former health and welfare minister, calls for ending Japan’s reliance on nuclear power over the long term while another candidate, former ASDF Gen. Toshio Tamogami, favors the continued use of nuclear power.

Some people, in particular Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, oppose the idea of treating nuclear power as a major issue in the Tokyo gubernatorial election. In an apparent effort to prevent the nuclear power issue from rousing wide interest among Tokyo voters, Abe said energy policy is an issue not just for Tokyoites but for all Japanese, adding that various issues that the Tokyo governor must deal with should be discussed in a balanced manner.

Yet Tokyo, which consumes about 10 percent of Japan’s total electricity, is the biggest power user among Japan’s 47 prefectures. And it must not be forgotten that the Fukushima nuclear disaster happened as a result of the central government’s long-standing policy of promoting nuclear power generation without taking sufficient steps to ensure that these plants were managed in a proper manner by both the government and the power companies.

To say that nuclear power should not be an issue in the Tokyo gubernatorial election is ludicrous as the question of what to do about nuclear power affects everyone in this small, quake-prone country...

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/opinion/2014/01/23/editorials/cant-bury-the-nuclear-issue/#.UuF3bXn0Ay4


Abe’s way of thinking merits scrutiny before Tokyo’s poll
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/opinion/2014/01/23/commentary/abes-way-of-thinking-merits-scrutiny-before-tokyos-poll/


Nuclear energy fight highlights aging economy
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/opinion/2014/01/23/commentary/nuclear-energy-fight-highlights-aging-economy/#.UuF43Hn0Ay4

[FBaggins]

1. Sounds like the broadcasters are listening to their audience

"Tokyo voters unhappy with nuclear focus"

As campaigning for the Tokyo gubernatorial race got under way Thursday, just a little more than a month since Naoki Inose resigned over a money scandal, voters expressed bewilderment over how fast the focus seems to have turned to nuclear energy.

A 50-year-old construction company employee from Itabashi Ward said he was disappointed.

“It’s completely wrong (for nuclear power to become a key issue),” he said. “I think the (2020 Tokyo) Olympics is a big subject. Inose’s resignation came so unexpectedly it has clouded what the real issues are.”


http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2014/01/23/national/tokyo-voters-unhappy-with-nuclear-focus/#.UuHRmRUo6id

The more likely reality is that this long-time anti-nuke was using his access to the airwaves to push his own ideology and the broadcasters told him to tone it down.

[kristopher]

2. That is a baseless headline contradicted by all the polling.

Which is why it consists of a series of nameless, person-on-the-street quotes instead of a discussion of polling.

Of course you know that and you'd be yelling bloody murder if it were slanted against nuclear and it contradicted polling; but you never let the opportunity to support the rightwing spin when it's promoting nuclear power.

[FBaggins]

4. Nope

Your reply assumes that people who say that they oppose nuclear power necessarily all agree with it being a key electoral issue. It further assumes that people can't hold a particular position and still be tired of hearing about it in the press.

Lastly... it ignores the fact that the meltdowns occured almost three years ago now and Japan has held two major elections where anti-nuclear candidates have tried to make that the deciding issue. They haven't had much luck.

instead of a discussion of polling.


In the poll that asked people to pick the most important issue in the election... only 14% said nuclear power.

When asked about the effort to make nuclear power the key issue of the election, 48 percent said “it is inappropriate,” topping the 41 percent who answered that “it is appropriate.”
http://ajw.asahi.com/article/behind_news/AJ201401270064

So much for the "baseless headline" being "contradicted by all the polling", eh?

[kristopher]

3. The wider implications of the nuclear power debate...

...involve nationalistic policies that the pronuclear faction are promoting.

'No-war pledge' deleted from LDP's party position for 2014
The ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) has released a proposed party position for 2014, deleting the "pledge never to wage war again" in a turnaround from last year's stance.

The party had initially included in its original draft for this year's party position a phrase saying, "... (the party is) determined to uphold a pledge never to wage war again and the principles of a peaceful country" in connection with officials' visits to Yasukuni Shrine. The updated draft, which was released on Jan. 8, deletes the statement and instead adds a phrase saying, "... bolster veneration (for the war dead)."

At an LDP General Council meeting on Jan. 7, some members raised objections to the original draft, saying, "Yasukuni Shrine was established to offer veneration for the war dead. It shouldn't be mixed up with a pledge never to wage war again."

Wataru Takeshita, chairman of the LDP Party Organization and Campaign Headquarters, explained about the deletion of the "no-war pledge" during a press conference, saying, "We put it in the preamble (of the draft)." However, the preamble doesn't contain a "pledge never to wage war again" but instead states that "maintaining peace is the foundation of our country's prosperity."

Following his controversial visit to Yasukuni Shrine in December...

http://mainichi.jp/english/english/newsselect/news/20140109p2a00m0na012000c.html