Okinawa Base Protest

TOKYO
Over 90,000 people rallied opposing the relocation of the American air base in Okinawa. Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama needs to resolve this issue; it is too bad that this problem is dividing the U.S. and Japan. At first you may think that it is strange that Okinawans are protesting against the relocation to a different part of the island, but there is more to the story,

Prime Minister Hatoyama promised during his elections to move the air base of the island completely, and now that he is just relocating it, people are getting angry. He has dropped in his approval ratings to under 30%, which is pretty bad for a Prime Minister. He promised his people something to get him elected, and now he is backing out of his promises...sounds like something familiar...

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Foreign Correspondents

In class we had a guest speaker who talked about foreign correspondents. I thought I would blog about this because not only does this relate to journalism, but to Japan especially because he was a journalist overseas in Japan writing for the New York Times. I feel horrible that I have forgot his name, but we definitely discussed some important things in class with him that I feel are necessary to talk about in this blog.

First thing that we talked about was language. He was saying that to be a foreign correspondent, knowing a second language is critical if not required to even close to successful overseas. He said he just happened to know Japanese, and that is what got him in the door at New York Times. He said that not only for work can a second language be useful, but in life as a whole. I have always wanted to learn Japanese, and hopefully I will in the future.

Another topic we discussed was the pros and cons to being a foreign correspondent. Being a foreign correspondent is hard, but very special because not as many journalist can do it. It is dangerous because he traveled to places like North Korea undercover (sort of) and explained how he had to keep it a secret what he was doing there. But he said that it is an amazing experience and that he enjoyed doing it.

One question that I asked him before class ended was about how the Internet is affecting foreign correspondents. I noted that now, with the Internet takeover, people can just go online and find out what is happening in Japan from sources all over the world. Why would someone pay you to go over there when readers don't need you anymore? He said yes, the Internet has changed the game, but people do still enjoy reading from the perspective of a foreign correspondent like him.

Japan: FREE

I did some research on Japan's degree of freedom according to a few websites from class. It seems like Japan is a pretty free country when it comes to media and journalism. Here is what I found:

From the index of Freedom House:

• Legal Environment: 2
• Political Environment: 13
• Economic Environment: 6
• Political Rights Score: 1
• Civil Liberties Score: 2
• Status: FREE

From International Press Institute:

• Deaths since 2000: 1
• Rank by death: 53

Cameraman Killed

Reuters cameraman Hiro Muramoto was shot and killed in Thailand's capital of Bangkok filming an anti-government protest. The picture above is footage from Muramoto moments before he was shot. He was one of over 21 people that were killed in the protest.

This is a tragedy that shows the dangers of this kind of industry. Editor-in-chief on Reuters David Schlesinger states "I am dreadfully saddened to have lost our colleague Hiro Muramoto in the Bangkok clashes. Journalism can be a terribly dangerous profession as those who try to tell the world the story thrust themselves in the centre of the action."

It is scary to see this happen, but at the same time, it really reveals to people what risks journalist take to get the shot. They are taking these risks to show the world different up-close views, and that can sometimes lead to disaster, and this is evidence of that. It is a very controversial topic when you ask the question of if these people should be risking their lives for a shot.

RIP Hiro Muramoto

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Pay-Per-Viewspaper

TOKYO

The largest newspaper company in Japan, Nikkei, has just followed the trend of charging viewers to access their online website. Not only do people have to pay for viewing articles, but linking to their articles from outside their website is restricted. This new policy may or may be beneficial to the company.

In order to even be allowed to link someone to their article, you have to apply with serious reasons. They have disabled to "right-click" on the website so that even the customers who do pay to view their articles are not allowed to copy the text or even the url. Doing so is not just prohibited, but will result in "seeking damages" from the newspaper.

This pay-per-view policy has set off the online community in Japan. While some people agree with the policy and believe that is the only way that the newspaper company will survive, others strongly disagree with it. Even the customers that pay do not get full access to the articles; to get the most information, you still have to buy their print newspaper for full details.

Especially with the attempt to get younger readers as customers, Nikkei should find a compromising medium so they can get more readers online. One person in the article said hat there should be a good mix between free content and fee content. They also said that with Japan's reputation for being number one in electronics, Japan's online tactics should be on top of the game, not following behind.

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Toyota Chief Slammed

TOKYO

Japanese media is criticizing Toyota for their delayed response to the current car recall. Toyota's are being recalled for the accelerator failure in many of their cars, but Toyota has taken its time to deal with the problem. Toyota represents a major part of the Japanese car industry as well as Japan altogether, and this is giving them a really bad rep.

This shows that Toyota is not making this serious issue a priority. Japanese newspaper Nikkei commented that "Words are not enough. The company's crisis management ability is being subjected to sever scrutiny." A separate Japanese newspaper Asahi says that "The entire world is watching how Toyota can humbly learn from its series of recent failures and make safe cars".

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Sorry Bluefin

WASHINGTON

Sorry bluefin, you lose another battle for your lives. The proposal by Monaco and the U.S. for banning bluefin tuna fishing. In the last 50 years the population worldwide for bluefin has declined 70%, but the scary fact is that 60% of that came from this last decade.

Unfortunately, this ban was rejected at a United Nations conference in Doha, so fishing for this diminishing species will continue for another year. Sushi restaurants and fish markets can do their part by not selling bluefin tuna, but as I work at multiple sushi restaurants, bluefin tuna is very popular among customers and businesses will continue to sell it.

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