August 31, 2019
The following is from an article by Kazue Fujiwara in this month's issue of the monthly magazine Sound Argument, which went on sale yesterday . The following is from Ms. Kazue Fujiwara's article, "Destroying the NHK Logically," which appeared in this month's issue of Sound Argument, a monthly magazine released yesterday.
All discerning readers will know that she is indeed something else, with a highly lucid mind.
This month's issue of Sound Argument is another must-read, not only for Japanese citizens but also for people worldwide.
Preamble omitted.
Biased Documentaries
I have discussed NHK's structural problems up to this point.
So far, we have been discussing NHK's structural problems, but from now on, we would like to specifically examine whether the content of NHK's news reports is appropriate and meets the requirements for public broadcasting, which are autonomy, fairness, impartiality, and nonpartisanship.
Among NHK's news content, documentary programs are often questioned.
While many of NHK's documentaries are excellent in principle and make us keenly aware of the importance of public broadcasting, some of them deal with modern and contemporary history.
They are biased based on a one-sided historical viewpoint.
ETV Special on Women's International War Crimes Tribunal on Japan's Military Sexual Slavery, which Convicted the Showa Emperor of Rape without Legal Basis, "Wartime Sexual Violence Questioned," and the NHK Special "Japan Debut: Asia's First-Class Nation," which abundantly uses the "cherry-picking" technique to draw conclusions based on convenient information. NHK Special "Japan Debut: Asia's First-Class Nation" is a typical example of such a program, criticized by many from various quarters.
A common characteristic of these modern history documentaries is that they continually stimulate viewers with background music that elicits negative emotions.
Viewers are induced to have negative emotions such as anxiety, fear, anger, sadness, and unhappiness by this [musical emotion].
This kind of biased reporting continues even in the age of Reiwa, and the NHK Special "Thus 'Freedom' Dies," aired on August 12, 2019, was an incoherent piece that lacked a valid inductive principle.
The piece developed an unverifiable [just-so story] that the claims of a weak media outlet, the Nihon Shinbun, manipulated the government to take away Japan's freedom and fell into the [ post hoc ergo propter hoc ] of uncritically identifying events that occurred before and after as cause and effect.
What is necessary for public broadcasting is "reporting" and "commentary" of the facts, and the producer's arbitrary "interpretation" and "direction" of music, emotion, etc., that lead to mass induction are harmful to the public.
As long as NHK continues to produce such works, it is unfit to be a public broadcasting station.
Inappropriate news and comments
NHK's news is excellent in that it reports the main points of the facts in a simple, direct, and straightforward manner and clarifies the issues.
The newscasters have excellent announcing skills, and the sensationalistic accents familiar in commercial broadcasting are almost non-existent.
However, it does not fully satisfy the requirements of public broadcasting, such as autonomy, fairness, and impartiality.
In studio talk, the anchors often express their personal values (actually the values of the "program" since they are reading from a script) or make comments that appeal to emotions, and other situations that lack the awareness of being a public broadcasting service are also often observed.
We will examine this using News Watch 9 as an example.
"Japan to Unusually Tighten Export Controls on South Korea"
Arima: It is really unfortunate. It's a shame that this situation has come to this. (July 1, 2019)
"Japan to Unusually Tighten Export Controls on South Korea"
Kuwako: No good things are happening for either Japan or South Korea.
Announcer Arima: I hope we can avoid a situation where the political tensions extend to economic activities. (July 2, 2019)
"Where is the Japan-Korea relationship going?"
Announcer Kuwako: It is worrisome that there are even moves to undermine the friendly relations with the people of South Korea that have been built up until now.
Announcer Arima: That's the point, isn't it? I don't want to think of the current Moon administration and the people of Korea in the same sentence. (July 16, 2019)
[annotation]
The role of public broadcasting is not to express a program's particular values, feelings, and desires to the audience but to provide a logical check on the three powers of the country and foreign powers.
It is a deviation from the role of public broadcasting to suddenly express regrets or make demands without explaining rational grounds.
"20 Million Needed for Retirement"
Kuwako Announcer: So the time has come for the government to admit that we can no longer leave our retirement to the government alone. It's tough. (June 7, 2019)
Anna Arima: I would like you to explain how the pension system, which claims to be secure for 100 years, is safe. (June 12, 2019)
[annotation]
To begin with, "centennial security" for pensions indicates that the pension system is secure for 100 years and does not mean that the government guarantees everyone's lives in old age.
If such an ignorant statement amplifies the public's confusion, it does not qualify as a public broadcaster.
"Where is the nuclear waste going?"
Kuwako Anna: It doesn't feel realistic to hear that surveying and building that repository will take 30 years, even more so when we still need to get a candidate site.
Anna Arima: I even have a sense of anxiety that it will drift away. (April 18, 2019)
"Fukushima nuclear power plant, treated water in tanks."
Ana Kuwako: The one remaining fishing port was finally reopened two weeks ago in Fukushima. It is natural that you do not want the tank water to be released into that ocean or atmosphere. (August 9, 2019)
Note: The entity that should be in a position to suppress rumors by expertly analyzing the safety of measures such as the geological disposal of high-level radioactive waste and the release of treated water from nuclear power plants is not qualified to be a public broadcaster if it just amplifies rumors by appealing to emotions.
In this paper, we have analyzed NHK's structure and broadcasting content and pointed out its problems.
The people should govern public broadcasting, not the three powers or broadcasters.
Based on this principle, it is vital to logically destroy the current system and build a public broadcasting service that everyone in the nation can agree with.
2024/8/8 in Fukuyama
