Protest against attempts by the Prime minister’s Office of Japan to gag reporters’ questions

It has been reported that the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) of Japan has repeatedly complained about a reporter who works for the Tokyo Shimbun. The office accuses the unnamed reporter, widely believed to be Isoko Mochizuki, of “misrepresenting facts” and “repeated troubleshooting” and expressed concern about their impact on daily press conferences by the chief cabinet secretary, Yoshihide Suga. These complaints were put in a letter to the exclusive press club that covers the prime minister’s office on December 28 and signed by the head of the office, Hideki Uemura. They were subsequently leaked to the press.

　首相官邸が昨年１２月２８日、東京新聞の特定記者の質問行為について、「事実誤認」「度重なる問題行為」と断定し、「官房長官記者会見の意義が損なわれることを懸念」、「このような問題意識の共有をお願い申し上げる」と官邸報道室長名で内閣記者会に申し入れたことが明らかになりました。

It is the responsibility of journalists to ask questions from various angles at press conferences and to seek the opinion of politicians. This is how the people’s right to know is guaranteed. Given the overwhelming difference in the volume of information handled by government officials and journalists, it is impossible for journalists who represent the public to avoid making the odd factual mistake. In such cases, the chief cabinet secretary should correct the mistake, not restrict the right of journalists to ask questions. This approach narrows the people’s right to know and is completely unacceptable. We strongly protest.

　記者会見において様々な角度から質問をぶつけ、為政者の見解を問いただすことは、記者としての責務であり、こうした営みを通じて、国民の「知る権利」は保障されています。政府との間に圧倒的な情報量の差があるなか、国民を代表する記者が事実関係を一つも間違えることなく質問することは不可能で、本来は官房長官が間違いを正し、理解を求めていくべきです。官邸の意に沿わない記者を排除するような今回の申し入れは、明らかに記者の質問の権利を制限し、国民の「知る権利」を狭めるもので、決して容認することはできません。厳重に抗議します。

There is a particular problem with the press conferences of the chief cabinet secretary in that the manager who moderates these conferences repeatedly interferes with journalists’ questions, haranguing them to be brief every few seconds. The news agencies have repeatedly complained about this but have not received a satisfactory response.

　官房長官の記者会見を巡っては、質問中に司会役の報道室長が「簡潔にお願いします」などと数秒おきに質疑を妨げている問題もあります。このことについて、報道機関側が再三、改善を求めているにもかかわらず、一向に改まりません。

Above all, we question the willingness of the PMO, which demands questions based on facts to accurately answer journalists’ requests. At a press conference on May 17, 2017, for example, Mr Suga dismissed the existence of an education ministry document referring to actions by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe as “anonymous muckraking.” Mr Suga and the government continued to dismiss the document for a month before accepting its existence. Such a response spreads confusion and erodes the international credibility of the Japanese government. It is not an isolated case: At a press conference on December 26, 2018, Mr Suga took issue with the questions of a specific journalist and failed to answer questions sincerely, instead saying “I do not think so” and “I just replied”.

　なにより、「正確な事実を踏まえた質問」を要求する官邸側の答弁の正確性や説明姿勢こそが問われています。２０１７年５月１７日の記者会見で、「総理のご意向」などと書かれた文部科学省の文書が報じられた際に、菅義偉官房長官は「怪文書のようなものだ」と真っ向から否定。文書の存在を認めるまで１カ月かかりました。こうした官邸側の対応こそが、「内外の幅広い層に誤った事実認識を拡散させる」行為であり、日本政府の国際的信用を失墜させるものです。官邸が申し入れを行った２０１８年１２月２６日の記者会見でも、菅官房長官は「そんなことありません」「いま答えた通りです」とまともに答えていません。

We are worried that this twisting of the facts and attempts to cherry pick journalists at the PMO will set the tone for coverage elsewhere and spread across Japan. We urge the PMO to immediately change the way it handles press conferences.

　日本の中枢である首相官邸の、事実をねじ曲げ、記者を選別する記者会見の対応が、悪しき前例として日本各地に広まることも危惧しています。首相官邸にはただちに不公正な記者会見のあり方を改めるよう、強く求めます。

Additional notes
《追記》　

At a press conference on December 26, a journalist (Isoko Mochizuki) asked Chief Cabinet Secretary Suga about the construction of a new US military base in Henoko, Nago City, Okinawa Prefecture. The journalist said that red clay was spreading throughout the landfill site for the base, polluting the local environment. “We are not sure whether landfill is proceeding legally,” she said.
The PMO’s responded to this in its complaint about the reporter as follows:
“The Okinawa Defense Agency has confirmed that the landfill material is specified before landfill construction began. It has submitted confirmation documents to Okinawa Prefecture upon request. That question is clearly against the facts ” The PMO further explained that measures to prevent pollution to areas outside the landfill area had been undertaken, so claims that pollution were “inappropriate”.

　記者が、沖縄県名護市辺野古への米軍新基地建設をめぐり、
　「埋め立て現場ではいま、赤土が広がっております」
　「埋め立てが適法に進んでいるか確認ができておりません」
と質問したことに対して、官邸側は申し入れ書のなかで、
　「沖縄防衛局は、埋立工事前に埋立材が仕様書どおりの材料であることを確認しており、また沖縄県に対し、要請に基づき確認文書を提出しており、明らかに事実に反する」
　「現場では埋立区域外の水域への汚濁防止措置を講じた上で工事を行っており、あたかも現場で赤土による汚濁が広がっているかのような表現は適切ではない」
――と主張しました。

However, on December 6th, the percentage of fine grains such as red soil contained in sediment used for construction was changed from about 10%” to “40% or less” at a discussion of the Diplomacy and Defense Committee of the Upper House. Okinawa’s government is now demanding onsite inspections amid the “increasing possibility of extremely serious adverse effects on the environment”, but the Okinawa Defense Bureau has refused to comply. Claims that contamination from red clay is present are obvious from a visual inspection of the site. Using false information and trying to limit questioning by labeling such questions “factually incorrect” is a sneaky attack on journalism and the people’s right to know.

　しかし、土砂に含まれる赤土など細粒分の含有率は、政府は昨年１２月６日の参議院外交防衛委員会でも「おおむね１０％程度と確認している」と説明していましたが、実際には「４０％以下」に変更されていたことが判明。沖縄県が「環境に極めて重大な悪影響を及ぼすおそれを増大させる」として立ち入り検査を求めていますが、沖縄防衛局は応じていません。「赤土が広がっている」ことは現場の状況を見れば明白です。偽った情報を用いて、記者に「事実誤認」のレッテルを貼り、取材行為を制限しようとする行為は、ジャーナリズムと国民の「知る権利」に対する卑劣な攻撃です。

The Japan Federation of Newspaper Workers’ Unions decided on the following policy at its convention in January 2019.
“The media has to deal with the strengthening of political power, and will have to sharpen measures to ensure the people’s right to know. It is time to strengthen solidarity between journalists, endeavor to enhance and strengthen public interview opportunities such as press conferences that will not be exposed to media selection by the authorities, for the enhancement of official document releases. Let’s strengthen our efforts.”
The Chunichi Shimbun Workers’ Union to which the Tokyo Newspaper journalist (Chunichi Shimbun employee) belongs is not a member of the Japan Federation of Newspaper Workers’ Unions, but we think that we would like to work together to improve the people’s “right to know”.

　新聞労連は今年１月の臨時大会で、「メディアの側は、政治権力の『一強』化に対応し、市民の「知る権利」を保障する方策を磨かなければなりません。（中略）いまこそ、ジャーナリストの横の連帯を強化し、為政者のメディア選別にさらされることがない『公の取材機会』である記者会見などの充実・強化に努め、公文書公開の充実に向けた取り組みを強化しましょう」とする春闘方針を決定しています。今回の東京新聞記者（中日新聞社員）が所属する中日新聞労働組合は新聞労連に加盟していませんが、国民の「知る権利」の向上に向けて、共に取り組みを進めていきたいと考えています。

February 5, 2019
Japan Federation of Newspaper Workers’ Unions
President: Akira MINAMI

２０１９年２月５日
日本新聞労働組合連合（新聞労連）
中央執行委員長　南　彰