An Asahi editorial writer’s commentary on media reluctance or reticence to scrutinise suspicions:^1
>At his news conference in April, [Kauan Okamoto] said he probably would not have signed up with Johnny & Associates if television networks had reported the suspicions about Kitagawa’s sexual abuse.
>His words weigh heavily as I work for a newspaper.
>When I was assigned to the Arts and Culture News Section between 2010 and 2013, I wrote five stories about TV dramas featuring actors from Johnny & Associates based on interviews with them.
>I was vaguely aware that there was an “unfavorable rumor,” but I did not attempt to dig into it.
>I was focused only on the dramas’ bright sides, which were willing subjects for the agency and TV networks.
>
>From 1999, the Shukan Bunshun weekly magazine covered Kitagawa’s “sexual harassment” in a series of 14 stories based on anonymous accounts of male idols and other sources.
>Kitagawa and his agency filed a defamation lawsuit, but the Tokyo High Court concluded in 2003 that key parts of the weekly’s reports were accurate. The ruling was finalized the following year.
>The Asahi Shimbun reported all court decisions on the lawsuit. But many of the articles were short and did not even carry a byline.
>When I read the stories now, I think our coverage fell far short.
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An Asahi editorial writer’s commentary on media reluctance or reticence to scrutinise suspicions:^1
>At his news conference in April, [Kauan Okamoto] said he probably would not have signed up with Johnny & Associates if television networks had reported the suspicions about Kitagawa’s sexual abuse.
>His words weigh heavily as I work for a newspaper.
>When I was assigned to the Arts and Culture News Section between 2010 and 2013, I wrote five stories about TV dramas featuring actors from Johnny & Associates based on interviews with them.
>I was vaguely aware that there was an “unfavorable rumor,” but I did not attempt to dig into it.
>I was focused only on the dramas’ bright sides, which were willing subjects for the agency and TV networks.
>
>From 1999, the Shukan Bunshun weekly magazine covered Kitagawa’s “sexual harassment” in a series of 14 stories based on anonymous accounts of male idols and other sources.
>Kitagawa and his agency filed a defamation lawsuit, but the Tokyo High Court concluded in 2003 that key parts of the weekly’s reports were accurate. The ruling was finalized the following year.
>The Asahi Shimbun reported all court decisions on the lawsuit. But many of the articles were short and did not even carry a byline.
>When I read the stories now, I think our coverage fell far short.
^1 Emi Tadama (28 May 2023), “Commentary: Learning from Asahi’s failure to report sex abuse scandal”, https://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/14918908