A reporter entrusted with objective reporting delivered an openly political speech at an anti-government rally.
This case exposes a fundamental breach of journalistic ethics and raises serious questions about fairness, responsibility, and the role of reporters in a democratic society.

2017-08-02
What follows is a continuation of the previous chapter.

The Fiery Speech of Reporter Isoko Mochizuki

Let us begin with a symbolic scene.
On June 21, 2017, a gathering titled “Abe Must Go!! Emergency Citizens’ Rally” was held at the House of Councillors Members’ Office Building.
The event was organized by a group calling itself the “Moritomo Whistleblower Project.”
Despite heavy rain, more than three hundred citizens, along with incumbent lawmakers from the Communist Party and the Social Democratic Party, gathered to call for the downfall of the Abe administration.
Tokyo Shimbun social affairs reporter Isoko Mochizuki attended this rally.

If she had merely come to report, that would have been understandable.
However, she mounted the podium, took the microphone, and delivered a ten-minute impassioned speech criticizing the government.
Footage of this speech has been uploaded to YouTube.

After referring to the Moritomo and Kake Gakuen issues, she said the following.
“Listening to the stories of Moritomo Gakuen, Kake Gakuen, and Ms. Shiori, I can’t help but feel that the thinking and awareness of those in power, Abe and Suga, are beginning to go seriously off the rails.
Officials at the Ministry of Education look truly distressed today, being blamed by ruling party lawmakers.
But they are not the ones responsible.
It is the Cabinet, and Chief Cabinet Secretary Hagiuda, known as Abe’s closest aide.
They refuse to hold press conferences.
They must do so properly.
I have repeatedly told Mr. Suga to fulfill his responsibility to explain.” (Applause)

She continued.
“Appealing directly to the number-two figure is perhaps the most powerful political act right now.
If no one else will speak, then I will, even if it means standing against the administration.
I will carry the feelings of Mr. Maekawa and Ms. Shiori, and the expectations of everyone here.” (Applause)

A Violation of Journalistic Ethics

As its title indicates, this was a political rally aimed at toppling the Abe administration.
At that rally, Mochizuki took the podium and declared that “Abe and Suga are losing their sanity.”
She is of course entitled to her personal beliefs and political freedom.
Nevertheless, is it acceptable for a reporter to deliver a speech at a political rally.

What troubled me most was her remark that appealing to the “number-two figure” was a political act.
Access to press conferences is a privilege granted to journalists.
It is granted in exchange for their responsibility to convey facts to the public through reporting.
If that privilege is used for personal political advocacy, the situation changes entirely.
This constitutes a clear violation of journalistic ethics.

If one has something to assert, it should be written in an article, not inserted into a question.
Had she been an editorial writer, such political expression might be understandable.
Editorial writers are paid to express opinions, including political ones.
But she is a field reporter in the social affairs section.

A reporter who must maintain objectivity delivering an agitation-like speech at a political rally.
In my view, this crosses a line.

Incidentally, the corporate principle of the Chunichi Shimbun, publisher of the Tokyo Shimbun, is “truth, fairness, and progress.”
This principle is drilled into all new employees during training.
Where, then, did fairness go for her.