Japan Press Weekly

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2013 July 3 - 9 [LABOR]

Union protests against ruling party’s rejection of TV interview

The Japan Federation of Commercial Broadcast Workers’ Unions (Minpo-roren) on July 5 issued a statement criticizing the ruling Liberal Democratic Party for arrogantly refusing interviews from TBS, one of Japan’s major TV broadcasters.

The LDP on the previous day announced in a written document that it will not accept interview requests from TBS reporters because it is upset with the TV station’s coverage of the party’s handling of the end of the ordinary Diet session.

Minpo-roren Chair Akatsuka Ohoro in the statement said, “Refusal of interviews from a particular news medium because of past coverage amounts to brazen retaliation against unfavorable coverage.” Akatsuka stated that such a high-handed behavior by a ruling party could potentially make reporters cower and therefore is totally unacceptable. He demanded that the LDP immediately reconsider its behavior toward the press.

Commenting on the issue, Japanese Communist Party Chair Shii Kazuo on July 5 at a news conference in Sapporo City said that the LDP should speak out publicly if it has a legitimate objection to news coverage. It is inappropriate for a political party to unilaterally decide to exclude certain targeted reporters, he stressed.