The following is a rough draft.
The other day, watching watch9, whose members were renewed on April 1, I wrote a chapter hoping that they would finally start doing what is highly natural for a journalist to do.
After thorough coverage and verification, it is to report, which is appropriate for a Japanese state-run broadcaster.
However, those with discerning eyes who watched last night's broadcast must have been reminded of the kind of people who control NHK's news department.
I have seen many people criticize the fundamental attitude behind such broadcasts as "flower garden" thinking in recent years.
Last night's "watch9" proved that such an attitude, masochistic view of history, and pseudo-moralism "as if one meant well toward" are the brain structure of those who control NHK's news department, or rather, the majority of NHK employees.
In other words, the people who grew up subscribing to the Asahi Shimbun are the ones who control NHK's news department or NHK.
NHK's thinking ability is at the level of a kindergartener who thinks that simply speaking out against the war with pseudo-moralistic "as if one meant well toward" statements will prevent acts of aggression from the "abysmal evil" and "plausible lies" nations of Russia, China, and the Korean Peninsula.
They should consider the following chapter in which Ms. Akari Iiyama, an up-and-coming researcher whom this column recently introduced, bitterly criticizes the Asahi Shimbun, including the title and my preface.
The reality is that last night's Watch9 spent a lot of time reporting on a person who wrote a book while working at a company.
"Anti-Japanese ideology is a smokescreen to hide the facts from Japanese eyes.
Japanese territory and sovereignty are at risk if the Japanese people's consciousness remains shrouded in such a smokescreen."
The reality of NHK's Watch9 is nothing more than what Ms. Iiyama has revealed.
