If the Sankei Shimbun had not reported the facts, Minister Sanae Takaichi would have been portrayed to the public as having acted cowardly.
This article examines how selective reporting by major media outlets created a false narrative, and how a single newspaper’s verification exposed the truth.

2017-06-18
The following is a reprint.
Had the Sankei Shimbun not reported the facts, Ms. Takaichi would have been portrayed to the public as if she had engaged in a cowardly act.
By reading this chapter, it becomes unmistakably clear what kind of people the so-called scholars—185 last time and about 50 this time—actually are, and what kind of newspaper the Asahi Shimbun truly is.
The impression manipulation of “Minister Takaichi ran away.”

Hasegawa.
One completely puzzling point in Mr. Kaye’s account concerns his meeting with Minister for Internal Affairs and Communications Sanae Takaichi.
In its April 20 edition, the Asahi Shimbun published an article titled “Threat to Japan’s Media Independence — UN Rapporteur Says Government Pressure Breeds Self-Censorship,” reporting that Mr. Kaye said he had hoped to meet Ms. Takaichi but was unable to do so because the Diet was in session.
Since Diet sessions last for long periods, if that were the reason, the impression would naturally arise that Ms. Takaichi fled because she judged the situation to be unfavorable.

However, three days later, in its April 23 edition, the Sankei Shimbun directly interviewed Minister Takaichi and obtained her response that “the Diet session was not the reason.”
It further revealed that Mr. Kaye’s side had specified the meeting date and time, and that Deputy Minister Shinpei Matsushita had responded in the minister’s place.
The Sankei Shimbun also reported that Deputy Minister Matsushita had even had Mr. Kaye confirm on television that the minister was, in fact, in the middle of delivering answers in the Diet.

Why did Mr. Kaye fail to explain these facts at his press conference.
Had the Sankei Shimbun not reported this, Ms. Takaichi would have been impressed upon the public as a person who had acted cowardly.
This was precisely a case that could have ended as a “write-and-get-away-with-it” scenario.