Published on September 17, 2019.
This essay criticizes TV Asahi’s Hodo Station, commentator Kenji Goto, and media coverage of the 2018 Liberal Democratic Party presidential election, focusing on Shigeru Ishiba’s local party member votes, the background reported by the Yomiuri Shimbun and Sankei Shimbun, and what the author sees as repeated attempts to underestimate the Abe administration.

September 17, 2019.
Goto gave no explanation at all of the real circumstances behind Ishiba’s acquisition of party member votes in the previous presidential election.
The following is a chapter published on August 16, 2018.
Recently, I found an article on the internet saying that TV Asahi’s Hodo Station had changed completely and no longer engaged in biased reporting as it used to.
The article criticized the change, saying that the program had become almost like a sports program.
So, a little while ago, I thought I might as well take a look and turned the channel to it.
But it was nothing of the sort.
Nothing had changed at all.
Recently, the Yomiuri Shimbun carried an article explaining why Prime Minister Abe had been surpassed by Shigeru Ishiba in the number of local party member votes in the previous Liberal Democratic Party presidential election.
It was an eye-opening article for me.
The number of party member votes Ishiba won at that time is one of the grounds on which the Asahi Shimbun and others have been praising Ishiba.
But in fact, this was not Ishiba Shigeru’s real strength or anything of the kind.
At that time, Machimura, the head of the faction to which Prime Minister Abe belonged, had also run in the presidential election.
Therefore, Prime Minister Abe, naturally out of consideration for Machimura, did not move to win local party member votes.
Moreover, although Machimura had declared his candidacy, his poor health made it impossible for him to travel around local regions and campaign.
The following is from Wikipedia.
Machimura Nobutaka…opening text omitted.
On September 14, 2012, he ran in the 2012 Liberal Democratic Party presidential election, but on September 18 he complained of poor health and was hospitalized.
In the voting and counting on September 26, he obtained only 34 votes and finished fourth among five candidates.
He continued to remain hospitalized afterward, and on November 22, a cerebral infarction was found.
A few days after the Yomiuri article mentioned above appeared, the Sankei Shimbun also reported that this time Prime Minister Abe was moving to win local party member votes.
Goto gave no explanation at all of the real circumstances behind Ishiba’s acquisition of party member votes in the previous presidential election.
The moment I turned the channel, what Hodo Station was broadcasting was this.
With that Goto from Kyodo News as commentator, and with a large board displayed, the program discussed the fact that Ishiba had won many local party member votes in the previous presidential election.
Even though the Yomiuri and Sankei had reported the reason for this, the program did not convey the real circumstances at all.
Instead, it shamelessly repeated, as usual, its underestimation of the Abe administration, saying that depending on the number of party member votes Ishiba wins, the foundation of the Abe administration may weaken.
The internet article said that this Goto would eventually be removed.
As for me, I might resume watching the program only after he is gone.