Criticism based on whether one has dined with the Prime Minister reflects a profound degradation of political discourse. This chapter exposes the immaturity of media figures who discuss politics without direct knowledge or interviews, prioritizing insinuation over facts.

2017-08-01
What follows is a continuation of the previous chapter.
Criticized for “Dining with the Prime Minister”.
Suenobu.
So even if I’m called “a traitor to Asahi,” I protect my role on the program and, at least on the days I appear, I speak up about the content of the VTRs.
I like the station itself because it feels family-like, so I want it to maintain objectivity, and if the content differs from the facts, I point it out.
When I watch VTRs aired on days I’m not appearing, the tone is clearly different.
They are produced because they want to say, “Power is evil, Abe has a dangerous view of the state, and we are resisting it.”
When Mr. Koga held up a placard live on air, it was on the same level as opposition parties holding up signs like “Oppose forced passage” toward TV cameras in the Diet.
He was using the airwaves to conduct his own self-righteous political movement.
That, I believe, is an insult to free expression.
Instead, we should be engaging in proper, adult debate and a genuine battle of ideas on a fair playing field.
Kato.
Yes, adults have disappeared.
Everyone is just shrieking like children.
Without even grasping the facts, it’s nothing but “Favoring friends is unfair” and “This is the arrogance of one-party dominance.”
It’s pure impression manipulation.
Suenobu.
The criticism about “having dinner with the Prime Minister” is another example.
They act as if eating together automatically makes you pro–Prime Minister, but Catherine Graham, who once headed The Washington Post, also dined with presidents of her time.
Yet she never distorted her reporting.
I, too, say something is wrong when it is wrong, and I praise what deserves praise.
Instead of competing on the substance of articles, statements, and the accuracy of reporting, it’s absurd to resort to vulgar labels like “government lapdog” or “Abe’s dog” just because someone had a meal with him.
Kato.
In the past, people weren’t criticized just for having dinner together.
If anything, it’s stranger to talk about politics without ever having met or spoken with Prime Minister Abe even once.
Nikkangendai wrote things like “Abe hospitalized immediately after returning from the G20,” but there was no hospitalization.
The reporter probably hasn’t even met Prime Minister Abe.
If you meet him, you can tell — his health is not bad.
Suenobu.
Rather than writing anything and everything to stir waves in public opinion or politics, I wish they would at least investigate, grasp the facts, and then present their judgment.
To be continued.