Journalist Expresses Discomfort with Fuji and Reporters at Press Conference | FRIDAY DIGITAL

Journalist Expresses Discomfort with Fuji and Reporters at Press Conference

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The executives at Fuji, who did not reveal the core details in response to reporters’ questions.

“Because this could lead to the identification of individuals.”

“Regarding women’s privacy.”

The public relations director frequently mentioned consideration for the victim. Every time the host uttered this phrase, the reporters’ questions were repeatedly interrupted.

On January 27th and 28th, Fuji TV held a prolonged press conference regarding Masahiro Nakai’s female trouble, which lasted over 10 hours. Economic journalist Takashi Matsuzaki, who participated, felt a significant discomfort regarding the privacy of the victim, a topic that was frequently brought up by Fuji executives, including President Koichi Minato, and the host.

Matsuzaki reflects.

It’s about whether there is agreement or disagreement

“Certainly, consideration for the victim is important. However, when privacy is mentioned, it makes one hesitate to ask further questions. On the other hand, Fuji emphasized to the reporters that they respected the woman’s wishes, while also revealing that they hadn’t confirmed the victim’s wishes regarding the harassment allegedly committed by Nakai. How, then, can the truth be uncovered? I felt a strong sense of discomfort, thinking that Fuji was not protecting the woman’s wishes.

Another issue was the fact that the long press conference was continuously aired on television. Though they later retracted it, they continued to broadcast Vice Chairman Ryunosuke Endo’s statement about agreement or disagreement of intention regarding Nakai and the woman. What was the basis for such a statement? I felt angered, thinking that it was Fuji, not the media, that had invaded the privacy of the woman who was likely watching the press conference.”

President Minato also mentioned the possibility of human rights violations. Matsuzaki continued.

“While mentioning human rights violations, they didn’t explain anything specific. Whenever questions about the core issue were raised, they deflected by citing privacy. It even gave the impression that they were trying to hide the fact that they did almost nothing to handle the trouble involving Nakai. If they are pretending to protect the victim’s human rights while acting out of self-preservation, it’s a deeply inadequate response from the organization.”

Matsuzaki believed that the reporters asking questions were also part of the problem.

“There were many jeers like, ‘Answer!’ and ‘This is too soft!’ How do viewers perceive the character of the reporters who should be pressing for answers? Rather than questions, there were also instances where reporters gave long speeches. Even though it was an unlimited time conference, the reporters have a responsibility to ask precise questions. It was also a press conference that questioned the literacy of the journalists.”

Fuji, which used privacy to avoid answering the core issues, and reporters who couldn’t ask the right questions to get to the essence—through this long conference across two days, various issues with the company and the media behind the trouble were brought to light.

  • PHOTO Kazuhiko Nakamura

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