http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/27/world/....html?_r=0

So, the above is a news article by the New York Times about the Abe administration's attempt to silence criticism. This has been talked about for a while now by English language media that regularly covers Japan, and by non-mainstream media in Japan. Just curious what people's thoughts on this might be. I never know how afraid or calm to be about vaguely fascist stuff like this, but since I'm living in Japan it's somewhat important to me.

There's also been a lot of protests against Abe and some of his specific policies. A couples months ago I was drinking by a river for a party and a group next to us burnt a giant effigy of Abe.

I apologize for not having much to say on this topic personally, however I do think this video serves as an important companion piece to the above article:

Hopefully residents of Japan can access "The Drudge Report". Also the UK Daily Mail.

http://www.drudgereport.com/

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/index.html

Roketzu Wrote:I apologize for not having much to say on this topic personally, however I do think this video serves as an important companion piece to the above article:

Thanks for the video, very interesting. The comments are weird though.

That's awful! I remember when I first started to understand Japanese TV, and was kind of surprised that I couldn't find any political shows. Maybe I was just too used to US TV, which has a bunch of them. After a while I just figured that either I was tuning in at the wrong times, or the media was very censored. Maybe I should start watching 報道ステーション , even if it's more censored than before.

Abe, like most right-wingers, have eerily fascist tendencies. Abe would love nothing more than for the return of Imperial Japan.

Bokusenou Wrote:That's awful! I remember when I first started to understand Japanese TV, and was kind of surprised that I couldn't find any political shows. Maybe I was just too used to US TV, which has a bunch of them.

US TV has TV shows with political discourse in the same way that South Park does longitudinal sociological research.

The New York Times is left wing propaganda. They consistently attack all politicians they disapprove of, with similar accusations, both in the US and Europe, and they consistently act as a mouthpiece for left wing politicians. (fun fact: Hillary Clinton and Obama PR representatives are often given the opportunity to read and correct articles written about them in the NYT, before they are published.)

This article is just another example of that. It contains no factual information, and the NYT engaged in no independent research whatsoever. It's just opinions from a list of Abe's political opponents...including dubious claims about unspecified groups of "many journalists" and "scholars" supposed opinions...as if the NYT conducted a survey among journalists and scholars.

All the while failing to present a single opinion from right wing commentators.

Stansfield123 Wrote:...

The UN ranked Japan on the Press Freedom Index as being in a "Good Situation" in 2010, then a "Satisfactory Situation" in 2012, and in the last two years (2013-4) as having "Noticeable Problems.' That's a pretty alarming jump in just four years, no? Japan was ranked alongside countries like Switzerland, New Zealand, and Sweden four years ago. Now it's ranked alongside countries like Senegal, Hong Kong, Serbia, and Chile.

Plus, basically all foreign press about Japan has been talking about this for the past couple years. No need to concentrate on the NYT.

There is plenty of evidence supporting this, but I'm not gonna play Google for you.

Tzadeck Wrote:

Stansfield123 Wrote:...

The UN ranked Japan on the Press Freedom Index as being in a "Good Situation" in 2010, then a "Satisfactory Situation" in 2012, and in the last two years (2013-4) as having "Noticeable Problems.' That's a pretty alarming jump in just four years, no?

The Press Freedom Index is published by RSF (Reporters Sans Frontières), not the UN. And no, it's not alarming to me that they rank Japan low, because they also rank the US low. And there are absolutely no government restrictions on press freedom in the US. On an objective list, the US would be ranked first, as it is the only country that protects freedom of speech absolutely. You can literally say anything in the US, and the government has no power to stop you.

Meanwhile, the number one country on that list, Finland, censors speech deemed politically incorrect http://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/3107/f...ree-speech , among many other acts of government control over the media and speech in general. Like all European countries, they also have laws preventing the press from freely reporting during elections, and businesses and citizens from freely campaigning for political causes.

So clearly, that index isn't measuring freedom, it's measuring whether RSF approves of how that freedom is exercised by Japanese and American media companies. I don't approve of that either, by the way, there's plenty to criticize about both US and Japanese media, but I'm rational enough not to conflate that with a lack of freedom.

I understand that free people don't always do what you'd like them to. Free people won't always tell the truth, be objective, or allow unpopular opinions onto media outlets they own. But, unlike in Europe (be it the UK, Finland or France - where RSF operates, they all censor unpopular opinions), in Japan someone saying unpopular things can just go on the Internet, or stand on a street corner, and speak his mind to his heart's content. And anyone who's interested in what he has to say can listen. Japan doesn't have the kind of absolute protections for freedom of speech the US has, but they are far, far closer than Finland or any of the other European countries that lead that childish, self-congratulating list.

Doesn't make it right that this guy was fired from his job, but it's not a freedom of speech issue. Not even if Abe's minister was the one criticizing him and calling for his firing. Abe didn't fire him, the owners of the station did, acting on their own free will.

Stansfield123 Wrote:The Press Freedom Index is published by RSF (Reporters Sans Frontières), not the UN.

Oops--yeah, I was conflating it in my head with the Human Development Index, which is published by the UNDP.

Stansfield123 Wrote:And no, it's not alarming to me that they rank Japan low, because they also rank the US low. And there are absolutely no government restrictions on press freedom in the US. On an objective list, the US would be ranked first, as it is the only country that protects freedom of speech absolutely. You can literally say anything in the US, and the government has no power to stop you.

Meanwhile, the number one country on that list, Finland, censors speech deemed politically incorrect http://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/3107/f...ree-speech , among many other acts of government control over the media and speech in general. Like all European countries, they also have laws preventing the press from freely reporting during elections, and businesses and citizens from freely campaigning for political causes.

So clearly, that index isn't measuring freedom, it's measuring whether RSF approves of how that freedom is exercised by Japanese and American media companies. I don't approve of that either, by the way, there's plenty to criticize about both US and Japanese media, but I'm rational enough not to conflate that with a lack of freedom.

Spare me all this off topic crap. The primary reason Japan has been ranked poorly in the last couple of years is because of government pressure to control or curtail certain messages. It just so happens that this list penalizes the state of a country's media based on factors beyond simply that, as with the US press. I meant this merely as an example of another respected organization that believes that Japan's media has been pressured by the government in recent years (since the NYT is not a legitimate source according to you).

Stansfield123 Wrote:The New York Times is left wing propaganda. They consistently attack all politicians they disapprove of, with similar accusations, both in the US and Europe, and they consistently act as a mouthpiece for left wing politicians. (fun fact: Hillary Clinton and Obama PR representatives are often given the opportunity to read and correct articles written about them in the NYT, before they are published.)

This article is just another example of that. It contains no factual information, and the NYT engaged in no independent research whatsoever. It's just opinions from a list of Abe's political opponents...including dubious claims about unspecified groups of "many journalists" and "scholars" supposed opinions...as if the NYT conducted a survey among journalists and scholars.

All the while failing to present a single opinion from right wing commentators.

It's true you know. The New York Times is the official mouthpiece of the Democrat Party, and NYT "journalists" are Democrat voters with press passes.

Stansfield123 Wrote:The Press Freedom Index is published by RSF (Reporters Sans Frontières), not the UN. And no, it's not alarming to me that they rank Japan low, because they also rank the US low. And there are absolutely no government restrictions on press freedom in the US. On an objective list, the US would be ranked first, as it is the only country that protects freedom of speech absolutely. You can literally say anything in the US, and the government has no power to stop you.

Meanwhile, the number one country on that list, Finland, censors speech deemed politically incorrect http://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/3107/f...ree-speech , among many other acts of government control over the media and speech in general. Like all European countries, they also have laws preventing the press from freely reporting during elections, and businesses and citizens from freely campaigning for political causes.

You're mixing freedom of press and freedom of speech. In the Finnish example you should note that it is the person, not the media that was punished for inciting hate against an ethnic group.

Futhermore, freedom of speech is not absolute in the US. Here's a list of of exeptions to free speech: http://www.uscourts.gov/about-federal-co.../what-does

Stansfield123 Wrote:On an objective list, the US would be ranked first, as it is the only country that protects freedom of speech absolutely. You can literally say anything in the US, and the government has no power to stop you.

Julian Assange, Edward Snowden and Chelsea Manning beg to disagree.

Wikileaks source Chelsea Manning convicted over magazines, toothpaste

Evo Morales' Snowden Plane Incident Infuriates Latin America

Sebastian Wrote:

Stansfield123 Wrote:On an objective list, the US would be ranked first, as it is the only country that protects freedom of speech absolutely. You can literally say anything in the US, and the government has no power to stop you.

Julian Assange, Edward Snowden and Chelsea Manning beg to disagree.

Wikileaks source Chelsea Manning convicted over magazines, toothpaste

Evo Morales' Snowden Plane Incident Infuriates Latin America

But I thought that Manning and Snowden broke the law by revealing classified information.

john555 Wrote:

Stansfield123 Wrote:All the while failing to present a single opinion from right wing commentators.

It's true you know. The New York Times is the official mouthpiece of the Democrat Party, and NYT "journalists" are Democrat voters with press passes.

You guys are making a lot of assertions that are incredibly easy to disprove. I know you're not entirely serious, but still... Wouldn't it be trivial to find the political leanings of matt drudge or one single right wing opinion in the nyt? Geez.

It's also hard to forget author Hyakuta Naoki's comments a few months ago before a now infamous LDP "study meeting", concerning Okinawan newspapers being critical of the Abe administration a few months ago:

Quote:議員から沖縄の地元紙が政府に批判的だとの意見が出たのに対し、百田氏は「沖縄の二つの新聞はつぶさないといけない。あってはいけないことだが、沖縄のどこかの島が中国に取られれば目を覚ますはずだ」と主張した。

出席議員からは、安保法案を批判する報道に関し「マスコミをこらしめるには広告料収入をなくせばいい。文化人が経団連に働きかけてほしい」との声が上がったほか、「沖縄は戦後、予算漬けだ。地元紙の牙城でゆがんだ世論をどう正すか」などの批判もあった。

Translated:

Quote:Addressing the opinion presented from diet members that regional Okinawa newspapers have been critical of the government, Mr. Hyakuta insisted that "We must crush the two Okinawan papers. It mustn't happen, but if some of the Okinawan islands are taken by China, they'll wake up."

In addition to voices from attending diet members saying "To punish the mass media, we should eliminate their advertising revenue. We want cultural leaders to put pressure on the Japan Business Federation," with regards to coverage critical of the security bill, there were also criticisms such as "Okinawa has been a been a drag on the budget since after the war. How can we correct distorted public opinion in the the Okinawan papers' strongholds?"

Can't find the actual video of this but I saw it a while ago: https://globalvoices.org/2014/09/23/new-...oadcaster/
The video is worse than the article indicates, even - just hilariously delusional. And that is when I stopped thinking of NHK as a respectable news source.

(lol@Americans thinking they have a left wing)

You can always just go to 2ch for your news.

Stansfield123 Wrote:The New York Times is left wing propaganda.

Reality has a left-wing bias. As far as the US goes, which is the New York Times is in, there's only one party denying basic science on a national platform and that would be the Republicans.

The same way that right-wingers tend to claim "bias!" toward news articles that shows their true colors they also tend to claim "bias!" toward science because it proves the things they don't like acknowledging like climate change, and "bias!" toward academia because educated people are less likely to vote for right-leaning parties. Anything right-wingers don't like is "propaganda". Anything that showcases things they prefer kept quiet is "bias". And the nail to the coffin of this all is that fact-checkers consistently find Fox News, the major right-wing outlet, as several levels more dishonest than any other major network or publication.

So it's very interesting to me that there are people in this thread claiming the same old tired "bias" over very basic common knowledgeable about Abe. Everyone knows that he's an Imperial Japan sympathizer. Abe is widely viewed as a right-wing nationalist, often visits 靖国神社, and is the blood descendant of someone who was directly in Tojo's cabinet in Imperial Japan. The same Imperial Japan that did censorship as a platform. Connect the dots.

Stansfield123 Wrote:They consistently attack all politicians they disapprove of, with similar accusations, both in the US and Europe, and they consistently act as a mouthpiece for left wing politicians. (fun fact: Hillary Clinton and Obama PR representatives are often given the opportunity to read and correct articles written about them in the NYT, before they are published.)

They do.. none of this. Obama is not on the NYT staff. Let me guess: he's an evil Kenyen muslim too and you want to see his birth certificate?

Stansfield123 Wrote:This article is just another example of that. It contains no factual information

Nope. It's based on factual transcripts, and frankly it's no surprise to anyone. Even without the facts proving so it's not a shocker that Abe would be interested in censorship as he has always been characterized as far-right. These fascist tendencies are characteristic of the far-right. David Cameron in the UK has even publically stated that he wants to ban encryption.

Stansfield123 Wrote:All the while failing to present a single opinion from right wing commentators.

These are entirely worthless in a fact based article.

ryuudou Wrote:

Stansfield123 Wrote:The New York Times is left wing propaganda.

Reality has a left-wing bias.

Reality: capitalism brings prosperity and lifts people out of poverty. Socialism has failed in every country on earth where it has been tried (Russia, Cuba, China etc. etc.) The USA became the greatest country in the world (with, unlike other countries, a huge prosperous middle class) precisely because of its conservative capitalistic traditions.

Left wing bias in the media has certainly been well documented in many books. Here's one you could take a look at:

http://www.amazon.com/Left-Turn-Liberal-...+left+wing

john555 Wrote:The USA became the greatest country in the world

?

scooter1 Wrote:

john555 Wrote:The USA became the greatest country in the world

?

Americans always say this, have you never noticed it? I've grown up with American media, which admittedly I do consider to be the best in the world, and I've noticed this for years - they always say their country is the best. I'd be surprised if anyone else who has been exposed to it for years hasn't noticed it too. I dunno if I'd feel the same if I were American, but I can't imagine ever saying my own country is the greatest country in the world, seems much too difficult to remain partial.

john555 Wrote:

ryuudou Wrote:

Stansfield123 Wrote:The New York Times is left wing propaganda.

Reality has a left-wing bias.

Reality: capitalism brings prosperity and lifts people out of poverty. Socialism has failed in every country on earth where it has been tried (Russia, Cuba, China etc. etc.) The USA became the greatest country in the world (with, unlike other countries, a huge prosperous middle class) precisely because of its conservative capitalistic traditions.

America is a mixed economy, and so are almost all countries with a high standard of living. Socialism is not what made countries like Russia and China awful places for a long time; you're thinking of Marxism and dictatorship. To the extent that the left favors socialist policies, it really is talking about progressive taxation, lots of funding for social programs, universal healthcare, government support for tuition, some degree of income redistribution, etc. In other words, policies that are similar to northern European countries with a strong middle class and a high standard of living. Social democracy, not Marxist dictatorship.

The reason the U.S. has the highest GDP in the world is complicated, but obviously not due solely to capitalistic traditions, since it was competing with so many other capitalist countries but it still came out ahead. The fact that the U.S. is a resource rich country, surrounded by the two major oceans, and bordered only by friendly countries with weaker armies, allowed it a major advantage during and after WWII; I suspect that's a big part of it. And, of course, economic success breeds economic success in a virtuous cycle.

Roketzu Wrote:

scooter1 Wrote:

john555 Wrote:The USA became the greatest country in the world

?

Americans always say this, have you never noticed it? I've grown up with American media, which admittedly I do consider to be the best in the world, and I've noticed this for years - they always say their country is the best. I'd be surprised if anyone else who has been exposed to it for years hasn't noticed it too. I dunno if I'd feel the same if I were American, but I can't imagine ever saying my own country is the greatest country in the world, seems much too difficult to remain partial.

Yes, the constant jingoism here drives me batty. Worse yet, it plays a big role in gotcha politics in our country. Politicians have to do stupid shit such as drink beer and quaff chili dogs with the hoi palloi at the county fair for fear of being deemed "un-American". Because God forbid we talk about the issues.

Sorry. Bitter rant about my predetermined nationality over. To get back on topic...

I don't see a lot of evidence of the Abe admin censoring the media or the populace at large. If anything, many Japanese are speaking out for the first time. HuffPo JP has had good coverage of the protests against the vote on the 安全保障関連法案. Good article here on the mobilization of the youth group SEALDs (シールズ), and on the protests outside of the Diet:

http://www.huffingtonpost.jp/2015/09/18/..._ref=japan

Last week's NHK Journal Friday podcast also included coverage of the ママの会 (https://www.facebook.com/mothers.no.war?fref=ts), a group of mothers who are campaigning against the 安保 and the concept of collective self-defense.