Television workers at other stations feel “uncomfortable” with TBS’s “Special Report on the Press” in which the Sangyo-kyokai announced a “BPO complaint” against it.

Is “Japanese First” Hate Speech?

A tense dispute arose in the midst of the Upper House election campaign period.

On July 14, the Sangseito announced on its official website its intention to file a complaint with the Broadcasting Policy and Human Rights Committee (BPO), claiming that it was not satisfied with the program’s response to its protest against “biased reporting” of the content of a TBS broadcast of a “news feature” on July 12.

The BPO is a “silent cry” for TV people, because programs are often terminated when the BPO finds human rights violations, etc.,” said a person involved in a wide-ranging TV show.

What kind of coverage was this?

The Sangen-jokai has adopted “Japanese First” as its theme for the upcoming election. In a special news feature, Sohei Kamiya, 47, the representative of the party, made a speech on the street about shoplifting by a group of foreigners,

Foreigners without money come here and ask for welfare immediately, there is no such thing, and if you don’t have money, please leave.

If you don’t have money, please leave. In addition, TBS announcer Erika Yamamoto (31) visited Osaka Public University Associate Professor Takahiro Akedo, an expert on discrimination against foreigners, and told him that “Japanese people first” is the most important issue in Japan.

I have the impression that the term “Japanese first” has become a monopoly. Is it different from hate speech?

Associate Professor Akedo replied

The most important part of hate speech is incitement to discrimination. The most important part of hate speech is incitement to discrimination. The excuse can be made that they are not directly saying “get out of here,” but what they are actually doing is to stir up xenophobia and hate speech against their supporters, and there is no doubt that the people who are saying this do not understand this.

Yamamoto also explained. Yamamoto also commented

The reality is that exclusionary and discriminatory words that society has never accepted are spreading on social networking sites. To be honest, I am very puzzled by such a reality.

She commented, “I am very perplexed by this reality.

The announcer’s personal opinion is never interrupted.

I was surprised at the content of the broadcast.

“I was surprised to see such biased assertions and slamming of one political party as ‘incitement to discrimination’ on TV during the election period,” said a director of a news station of another station.

A director of a news station of another station said, “I was surprised by the content of the broadcast.

No matter what ideology or religion one may hold, fairness is the top priority, especially during election periods. We never allow the personal opinions of the announcers to get in the way. As for the production side, it’s a bit unthinkable. It’s true that the councilors’ party is quite far-right in its thinking, trying to attract conservative voters, so we knew that it fundamentally did not fit with the liberal TBS, but it feels strange to criticize it so wholeheartedly. ……”

Satoshi Hamada, a member of the House of Councilors of the NHK party, in his X published on July 14,

I would like to call Erika Yamamoto to the Diet and demand an explanation for this statement.

Former Fuji Television announcer Yutaka Hasegawa also responded to an interview with the news site SmartFLASH.

Yamamoto’s comments in the “Special Report” were 100% out of line, even from my point of view,” he said.

He said, “I was 100% out of line with what he said.

When TBS was asked by this site about the fact that the Sangseito had announced a complaint to the BPO and about the controversial comments made by Erika Yamamoto, an announcer at TBS, Hasegawa replied, “This special feature was not about the Sangseito, but about the BPO and the controversial comments made by Erika Yamamoto,

She answered, “This feature article focuses on the growing concern about the rise of xenophobia in light of the fact that, as the Sangen-joken party is gaining support, parties are launching policies and pledges targeting foreigners one after another, and the issue is rapidly emerging as an issue in the Upper House election. The issue is raised mainly by the voices of various parties, organizations and experts working on human rights issues, while presenting objective statistics. We believe that this report, including the studio portion, has a high public nature and public interest in presenting voters with information on which to base their decisions.”

He responded. Although the Upper House election is expected to see a great leap forward, it is likely that the “grudge” with TBS will remain even after the election.