Japan Press Weekly

Tweet

2014 July 16 - 22 [POLITICS]

172 ex-NHK workers demand removal of Momii

Regarding a series of controversial remarks made by NHK President Momii Katsuto, 172 former employees of the public broadcaster issued a statement on July 18 calling on the NHK board of governors to advise Momii to resign or to remove him from the position.

Among these ex-employees are well-known former directors, news anchors, and announcers.

As a reason for pushing for the president’s resignation, the statement points out as follows: as seen in his remarks at the inaugural press conference in January that “NHK cannot say ‘left’ when the government says ‘right’”, Momii fails to understand the nature of NHK as a broadcaster independent from the state; his statement justifying the Imperial Japanese military’s sexual slavery system (the so-called “comfort women” issue) is an attempt to fabricate history; and the string of the president’s improper remarks causes NHK reporters to face difficulty in obtaining news materials and drives more viewers to refuse to pay subscription fees.

In conclusion, it expresses the hope that NHK will become an impartial news organ both in name and reality.

Past related article:
> JCP Kira urges NHK chair to resign [February 20, 2014]