The following is an interview article with the beginning of monthly magazine HANADA this month issue.
It is probably the most appropriate article for Japanese citizens to look back on this year.
Emphasis in sentences other than heading is me.
Prime Minister Abe exclusive interview
A new decision for the future
Listener / Arimoto Kaori (journalist)
Only with the people's trust
Arimoto-
Your wife Akie Abe received a reward from Belgium on December 12th. During the award ceremony, she was moved to tears saying, 'We had to go through a lot this year.' Our editor was also touched, imagining the hardships that you and your wife had to suffer.
Abe-
Thank you.
Arimoto-
It seems that your contribution to the promotion of participation in society was appraised.
Abe-
One of our party's main goals is to establish a society where women can shine, but aside from being a part of the government, my wife has been working on it as her life work, so she was glad to receive the award.
Arimoto-
This year, 2017 seemed to have been a tough year for you and your wife due to the so-called "Mori-kake" controversy.
Abe-
Politicians, especially the Prime Minister, are always supposed to confront criticisms. Amid such criticisms, it is crucial not to lose trust from the people. Without their trust, we are not able to fulfill our duty, so I am really glad that we won the election on October 22nd. We will continue to work modestly.
Arimoto-
In my opinion, the controversy 'Mori-kake' is something that some media and the opposition parties have made up in order to overthrow the government and I have been claiming that it was fake. But the media and the Diet have been stressing this issue every day for nearly a year without confronting the real problems such as the increasing tension between North Korea and Japan, which made me almost scared.
This kind of fake news could have overthrown the government a few years back.
But today it is not the case.
If the media makes a false report, the internet users will point it out through SNS and correct the wrong information.
Abe-
These days, the availability of SNS has been preventing media from controlling the public opinions.
There are such criticisms as 'SNS is the source of fake news.' or 'Internet users are biased.' But these are actually wrong.
Rather, Internet users are capable of putting lots of information together not only from the available media but also from various sources and distinguishing facts from the wrong ones.
Subtle mistakes can easily be revealed as a substantial amount of people’s eyes are on them.
Needless to say, the development of SNS can be a pain in the neck for politicians likewise.
For instance, a small mistake I make can easily be checked.
Arimoto-
While Internet users are ones that support the government but they can also be a trouble.
Abe-
Right.
Articles which are just collections of random information can no longer be approved.
Articles that already have fixed conclusions will not be accepted either.
Such articles will immediately be verified, therefore now we are in an era where coverage that only speaks facts based on facts can survive.
Arimoto-
It is only the major media that are not aware of that fact.
Abe-
Likewise, I think what politicians say or do will be exposed to more people and go through criticisms, and as a consequence, the ones that have been proved true will only live.
This draft continues.