NSK Seeks Full Disclosure on Fires, Victims

The NSK Editorial Affairs Committee on March 14 made a written request of Hiroya Masuda, minister for internal affairs and communications, seeking full information disclosure to the media about fires and victims of fire.

Since the implementation of the personal information protection law, fire departments across the country have been withholding information from the media on the pretext of protecting privacy.

NSK’s request calls on fire departments to make “enormous efforts” to release information necessary for the media fulfill the people’s right to know. Drawing on the results of an NSK survey of local media representatives, the NSK request cited fire departments as interpreting the law in a way that favors their restrictive view on releasing information to the media.

“As a general rule, any public institution should disclose information in its entirety and leave the extent of its public circulation to the discretion of the media. The recent trend among fire departments is a matter of grave concern,” it warned.

Akira Teramura, a vice commissioner at the Fire Disaster Management Agency who received the NSK request, said that the agency was not intentionally restricting the flow of information to the media. He said that the agency would deliver the NSK request to the officials of all fire departments.

NSK and the National Association of Commercial Broadcasters in Japan (NAB) issued a joint statement in December 2002, protesting a move by the Fire Chiefs’ Association of Japan to set restrictive new criteria and guidelines on releasing the identities of victims of fires and other disasters. That move followed a September 2001 case of arson in Tokyo’s Kabukicho entertainment district that killed 44 people. Their statement argued that under no circumstances should any public institution be formulating criteria on its own information disclosure, because allowing it to do so would surely limit freedom of expression and the public’s right to know.

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Media Divided Over Miura: Suspect or Former President?

The Los Angeles Police Department on Feb. 22 arrested Kazuyoshi Miura, 60, a former president of a general merchandise importer/retailer, at a Saipan airport on suspicion of murdering his wife in November 1981. He had already been acquitted in Japan of the fatal shooting of his wife, Kazumi, in Los Angeles.

The sudden U.S. arrest after some 27 years has left the Japanese media divided about how to describe him.

When Miura was last the focus of heavy media coverage in the 1980s, it was common practice in Japan for the media to name an arrested person without any title, suggesting an understanding of implied guilt. But growing awareness about human rights has since led Japanese media to describe a person under arrest as a merely a suspect, underlining the fact that a person under arrest has not yet been found guilty of committing a crime.

The latest incident led Japanese newspapers to report Miura’s arrest in their Feb. 24 morning issues. The Asahi Shimbun and the Yomiuri Shimbun described Miura in their leads as a “suspect,” also using the title “former president” in headlines and the rest of the body of the articles.

Asahi makes it a rule to apply the style for domestic news to criminal cases and accidents on foreign soil, while taking into consideration the circumstances of a foreign country concerned. Usually, Asahi name an arrested person as a “suspect.” Noritoshi Cho, an acting city news editor at Asahi, said that in this particular case, Miura’s acquittal was finalized in Japan and the newspaper was extremely careful not to give any impression to its readers that he might be the culprit. Because the arrest happened abroad, access to Miura is limited and U.S. investigators have not publicized any investigative findings, according to Cho. “Therefore, we always refer to the fact that he was acquitted in Japan when we describe him as a suspect in any articles,” he added.

The Yomiuri cited the fact that Miura’s acquittal has been finalized in a Japanese court as a reason for not describing him as a suspect. Hiromichi Okubo, a deputy chief of the city news section at the Tokyo head office, said that in light of the prohibition against double jeopardy -- trying someone twice for the same crime -- he should not be treated as a suspect under Japanese judicial system. “Our repeated description of him as a suspect might have given our readers a misconception that a judicial procedure has started against him in Japan,” he said.

NHK said it describes him as a suspect only once in each segment and otherwise, he is called by his title, in accordance with its policy of not to using the term “suspect” often.

The Mainichi Shimbun used the term “former defendant” in describing him in the headline and the first reference of the article in the final edition of its Feb. 24 morning issue, replacing that term with “suspect” for the rest of the article. In order to inform readers that Miura was already acquitted for the same crime, the newspaper described him as a former defendant both in headlines and the first reference to him in articles, as is the case with criminal cases at home. In the follow-up article in its Feb. 25 issue, the Mainichi used the term “suspect” in its headlines and the related articles. Starting from the Feb. 25 issue, however, the Mainichi made it a rule to call Miura a suspect in the first reference in articles but use the term “former president” in headlines and for the rest of the articles. Yoshinari Saito, city news editor at the Mainichi’s Tokyo head office, said that the newspaper altered his description after his former attorney in Japan disclosed at a news conference on Feb. 25 that the arrest warrant used this time by the LAPD was the one issued 20 years ago. He also added that his acquittal was finalized at Japan’s Supreme Court and that the LAPD has not disclosed any new evidence or facts leading to his arrest.

Kyodo News used the term “suspect” in headlines and articles from its first reporting of his arrest, like the reporting of ordinary criminal cases in Japan. Starting from the reports for the Feb. 26 evening editions of its subscriber newspapers, however, the news agency began to describe him as a suspect only in the first reference and “former president” for the rest of an article. In a notice delivered on the same day to the subscribers, Kyodo said that it made the change in consideration of the fact that he was acquitted in Japan. Kazuhiro Makino, city news editor, said that Kyodo would continue to describe him as a suspect in the first reference because he was served an arrest warrant issued by U.S. investigative authorities. “Meanwhile, we must take into account the fact that his acquittal has been finalized in Japan,” he added.

The Sankei Shimbun continues to describe Miura as a suspect in headlines and articles. A spokesman for the newspaper said, “In the United States, an arrest warrant was issued, he is under arrest and he is suspected of (having murdered his wife.”

Pending the progress of the U.S. judicial procedure, Japanese newspapers are likely to change their terminology in describing Miura. Asahi’s Cho said, “We will have to change our judgment if the LAPD were to reveal new evidence and the grounds for suspicion were to deepen. It all depends on the depth of the suspicion against him is,” he said.

Fuji TV Reorganizing As Holding Company

Fuji Television Network Inc., a leading commercial broadcaster, said on March 13 that it will adopt a holding company structure in October. The move is aimed at bringing group companies that are running local affiliates more tightly under its wing. Fuji TV is the first commercial broadcasting station to announce a move to a holding company.

Fuji TV expects to obtain shareholder consent at its annual meeting in late June for a corporate breakup and move to a holding company setup by Oct. 1. It also plans to change its name to Fuji Media Holdings Inc. and to transfer its terrestrial TV broadcasting business to a new unit to be set up later.

A spokesman for Fuji TV said that the media world is undergoing sweeping changes through technological innovation linked to digitalization and revisions of pertinent laws. To cope with the changes in the overall business situation, Fuji TV is to selectively concentrate management resources on its non-broadcasting business and more actively promote capital tie-ups with outside businesses, while maintaining broadcasting operations as a core business, the spokesman said.

The planned holding company will map out an overall strategy for the group and pursue management with optimum resource allocation in mind, according to Fuji TV. “We have decided that a holding company is the best vehicle to make the company Japan’s representative media conglomerate,” the spokesman added.

The revised broadcasting law enacted in December 2007 took effect in April, allowing commercial broadcasters to operate under holding companies. The law was changed in part to make it easier for cash-hungry local TV broadcasters to raise funds for equipment related mainly to the digitalization of TV broadcasting. Under the law, major broadcasters are allowed to put up to 12 broadcasting stations under a holding company. However, each of the key broadcasting stations in Tokyo, which cover Tokyo and six bordering prefectures, are allowed to bring up to five affiliates under their “holding” umbrella. The statutory limit on foreign investment in broadcasting businesses -- up to 20 percent of total equity -- will apply to these holding companies.

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