"Eric Takabayashi" <etakajp@yahoo.co.jp> wrote in message
news:41EA3A8F.AC1DFBAC@yahoo.co.jp...
> Ernest Schaal wrote:
>
> > Does anyone here believe NHK's professed claims that Asahi Shinbun
libeled
> > them by printing allegations that NHK bowed to political pressure in
> > censoring a program on the Emperor's role in war crimes?
> >
> > Didn't they profess innocence in the embezzlement scandal too?
>
> NHK admitted they bowed to the pressure at their own press conference last
> week, and some government official has made his own comments, so at least,
> accounts of influence do not seem untrue.

Maybe those in our midst with a knowledge of Japanese law can clear this up,
but I believe that in Japan, damaging public statements are subject to
defamation (名誉毀損) laws, even if they are true. What matters is if the
"victim's" public standing was damaged, whether that standing was deserved
or not.

I understand that the laws were set up this way to provide some sort of
defense against the soukaiya's and whatnot, e.g. to prevent blackmail
through the threatened divulgence of companies' misdeeds.

> The real question is just how much influence do the government or
publisher's
> political agendas have on media, because media influence has a profound
> influence on public perceptions, particularly here.

How about influence of industry on the media while we are at it? So many of
the "respected" news media/trade journals are little more than rags, where
every feature "interview with the CEO" is actually a paid placement.

-- 
Regards,
Ryan Ginstrom
ryang@gol.com