is
a legal code adopted by the Danish Parliament, with the acceptance of the
national union of journalists in 1992.Submitted
by:
Kenichi
ASANO
Doshisha University
Kyoto, Japan
Fifth Meeting, Alliance of Independent
Press Councils in Europe (AIPCE
)
11-12
September 2003
Stockholm, Sweden
I have been on sabbatical leave from my
university for academic research abroad from April 2002 to June 2003. I stayed
eight months in London as a
visiting scholar at the University of Westminster. I traveled
to more than 20 countries to gather information on press accountability systems
and press ethics issues. The following is a very rough report of my research.
*My
areas of interest
Let me introduce myself briefly. I worked as a Kyodo News reporter
for 22 years. As a news reporter of Kyodo News, I was looking for a way for Japan to harmonize a free press and the individual integrity of its
people. I thought we needed to have press council and press ombudsman systems
in Japan. I started to work on introducing the idea of an ombudsman system
in our society. I became a professor of journalism at Doshisha University in April 1994.
Here are several questions I try to clarify:
1 What is the basic role of the mass media
in covering crimes in a free and democratic society? How should journalists
work with police officers and prosecutors?
2 Can criminal reporting contribute to
suppressing crime?
3 How should news reporters behave and
report crimes ethically? Is it ethical to write the names of juvenile
criminals? Is it possible to divide public figures and private citizens when
covering crimes?
4 How should we harmonize freedom of the
press and an alleged suspect’s human integrity and privacy? Especially, how far
should the media publicize his or her name and identity in reporting criminal
cases?
5 What areas and how should the press reform
its criminal news reporting?
I am going to publish a book which tries to compare media accountability
systems around the world.
I am very much interested in criminal
reporting and media accountability systems. My theme is how to harmonize the
rights of a victim, a suspect and/or defendant, and the people’s right to know.
I want to do research on working journalists and editors, together with readers
in various countries. I want to study the history of Press Councils and their
present situation now. I also plan to compare media accountability systems in various
countries throughout the world.
*Press
Councils around the world
For
the first eight months, I studied Press Councils (PCs) in UK and the
Press Ombudsman & Press Council in
Media
accountability systems vary all over the world. However, they all have a common
purpose:
--To
protect press freedom from the authorities
--To
enhance credibility and trust in the media among the public
--To
evade statutory regulation by the state
PCs
deal with unjustified violations of the press in order to maintain a good
standard of journalism. The press recognizes that the individual citizen is
entitled to respect for his personal integrity and the sanctity of his private
life. Generally speaking I found that most of the press councils in the world
are working well. The composition of members of Press Councils vary from
country to country. Journalist unions send members in
Having
members who are representative of the public is also important.
*New Zealand Press
Council
I
found that the New Zealand Press Council is very similar to Scandinavian press
councils. It has an office in Wellington. The
secretary of the PC is Ms. Mary Major.
There are 12 members. The Chief Ombudsman of New Zealand and press organizations appoint members. Mr. John Jeffries, a former Supreme Court judge, is a chairperson. Representatives are:
5
from the public
2
from newspaper publishers
1
from magazine publisher
3
from media union
I
interviewed retired Professor Stuart Johnson and Mr. Alan Samson, who is a
reporter for Dominion.
*PC
budgets
The
independence of press councils is another concern and interest. Some parts of
the PC budget comes from the government in Finland and Germany. Press
Councils in these countries include the broadcast media
Not
only human rights violations caused by misconduct of reporting, but also
collecting information itself is monitored in countries like Norway.
*The case of Denmark
In
Denmark, the Press
Council is based on law. The Danish Parliament and Media agreed that the PC is
covered under The Media Liability Act, which was enacted in 1992. Article 34 of
Chapter 5 in the “Press Ethics” states that violations of press ethics are
dealt with by Danish Press Councils. The
National Code of Conduct is
a legal code adopted by the Danish Parliament, with the acceptance of the
national union of journalists in 1992.
The
Danish Press Council has 8 members. I interviewed Mr. Tage Clausen, senior
editor of Jyllands-Posten and Mr. Niels Grubbe, Supreme Court Judge. According
to them, they have not experienced any interference in media ethics matters by
the authorities. The Prime Minister once made a modest comment on one of the
Press Council decisions to censure, and he faced very strong criticism from the
media industry and union.
The Austrian Press Council is not working now. The
problem comes from the major newspapers’ lack of cooperation. Mr. Paul Vecsei,
chairperson of APC, is planning to revive it soon.
Prof. Kaarle Nordenstreng of the
*Does Japan have a Press Council?
In Japan we don’t have a press council yet. I have been making efforts to
establish a media accountability system in our country with my colleagues of
the Liaison Committee on Human Rights and Mass Media Conduct (JIMPOREN).
JIMPOREN was established in 1985.
See “Obstacles To Establishing Ombudsmen In Japan” by Kenichi Asano at:
FEATURES/2000/england2.html
I was very much surprised to read a table
printed on DEONTOLOGIE
DES MEDIAS--Institutions, pratiques et nouvelles approches dans le monde. Professor Odd
Raaum of Oslo University college
showed this book to me when I met him. The
book is authored by Par Henri Pigeat et Jean Huteau,
and was published by UNESCO in 2001.
According to this list on p. 42, Japan has a code of press ethics and Press Council. This is not true at all.
The Japanese Newspaper Publishers and Editors Association (NSK) has its own
Code of Ethics. It was revised in 2000. However,
there is no body existing to monitor whether journalists are following the Code
or not. Therefore, very few news reporters or editors think of the Code in the
course of their daily professional duties.
The issue of press ethics in Japan is
covered on pp. 248-257 of this book. Major newspapers in Japan,
as well as some media academics, insist that Kiji-shinsa-shitsu or
Shinbun-kannsa-iinkai can be said to be an ombudsman or press council. Some say
that it is a unique Japanese version of the ombudsman system. But it is merely
an in-house quality-control body. It is also used to fight complaints against
newspapers.
On p. 255 of this book, it is reported that the Yomiuri
Shinbun has a press ombudsman. My guess is that Mr. Takeshi Maesawa has told
experts abroad that he is an ombudsman of the paper. He had a column titled
“Ombudsman of Yomiuri Shinbun” in the Daily Yomiuri, which is the
English-language paper of the Yomiuri Shinbun.
The Yomiuri Shinbun, for its part, had admitted that Mr.
Maesawa’s self-proclaimed status of ombudsman was nothing of the kind, when
JIMPOREN made an inquiry with the paper in 1987. The paper said that Maesawa is
using the paper’s name on his own accord. Mr..Maesawa began criticizing the
president of the Yomiuri Shinbun fiercely after he retired from the Yomiuri and
began teaching at university.
Mr. Ian Mayes, the readers’ representative of The
Guardian newspaper, also believed that the Yomiuri had an ombudsman system in
place.
I
interviewed these experts:
Mr. Tom O’Malley, author of Regulating the press
Mr. Kenneth Morgan in the UK
Dr. Thorsten Cars in Sweden
In
closing, allow me to pass along a few weblinks that will give you a clearer
picture of my past and current work.
*Kyoto
Journal article
http://www.kampo.co.jp/kyoto-journal/media/asano.html
*Liaison Committee on Human Rights and Mass Media Conduct (JIMPOREN)
http://www.jca.ax.apc.org/~jimporen/welcome.html
*Doshisha University webpage
index.html
(mostly in Japanese, but includes some "Feature Articles" toward the
bottom in English)
*Harvard Asia Quarterly essay text
*”Thursday
Night Talk” (radio talk show on KHSU-FM in Arcata, Ca, USA) excerpts - March 20, 2003(preface by Professor Asano)
FEATURES/2003/eusafmradiod.html
Submitted
by:
Kenichi
ASANO
Fifth Meeting,
11-12
September 2003
I have been on sabbatical leave from my
university for academic research abroad from April 2002 to June 2003. I stayed
eight months in
*My
areas of interest
Let me introduce myself briefly. I worked as a Kyodo News reporter
for 22 years. As a news reporter of Kyodo News, I was looking for a way for
Here are several questions I try to clarify:
1 What is the basic role of the mass media
in covering crimes in a free and democratic society? How should journalists
work with police officers and prosecutors?
2 Can criminal reporting contribute to
suppressing crime?
3 How should news reporters behave and
report crimes ethically? Is it ethical to write the names of juvenile
criminals? Is it possible to divide public figures and private citizens when
covering crimes?
4 How should we harmonize freedom of the
press and an alleged suspect’s human integrity and privacy? Especially, how far
should the media publicize his or her name and identity in reporting criminal
cases?
5 What areas and how should the press reform
its criminal news reporting?
I am going to publish a book which tries to compare media accountability
systems around the world.
I am very much interested in criminal
reporting and media accountability systems. My theme is how to harmonize the
rights of a victim, a suspect and/or defendant, and the people’s right to know.
I want to do research on working journalists and editors, together with readers
in various countries. I want to study the history of Press Councils and their
present situation now. I also plan to compare media accountability systems in various
countries throughout the world.
*Press
Councils around the world
For
the first eight months, I studied Press Councils (PCs) in
Media
accountability systems vary all over the world. However, they all have a common
purpose:
--To
protect press freedom from the authorities
--To
enhance credibility and trust in the media among the public
--To
evade statutory regulation by the state
PCs
deal with unjustified violations of the press in order to maintain a good
standard of journalism. The press recognizes that the individual citizen is
entitled to respect for his personal integrity and the sanctity of his private
life. Generally speaking I found that most of the press councils in the world
are working well. The composition of members of Press Councils vary from
country to country. Journalist unions send members in
Having
members who are representative of the public is also important.
*
I
found that the New Zealand Press Council is very similar to Scandinavian press
councils. It has an office in
There
are 12 members. The Chief Ombudsman of
5
from the public
2
from newspaper publishers
1
from magazine publisher
3
from media union
I
interviewed retired Professor Stuart Johnson and Mr. Alan Samson, who is a
reporter for Dominion.
*PC
budgets
The
independence of press councils is another concern and interest. Some parts of
the PC budget comes from the government in
Not
only human rights violations caused by misconduct of reporting, but also
collecting information itself is monitored in countries like
*The
case of
In
is
a legal code adopted by the Danish Parliament, with the acceptance of the
national union of journalists in 1992.
The
Danish Press Council has 8 members. I interviewed Mr. Tage Clausen, senior
editor of Jyllands-Posten and Mr. Niels Grubbe, Supreme Court Judge. According
to them, they have not experienced any interference in media ethics matters by
the authorities. The Prime Minister once made a modest comment on one of the
Press Council decisions to censure, and he faced very strong criticism from the
media industry and union.
The Austrian Press Council is not working now. The
problem comes from the major newspapers’ lack of cooperation. Mr. Paul Vecsei,
chairperson of APC, is planning to revive it soon.
Prof. Kaarle Nordenstreng of the
*Does
In
See “Obstacles To Establishing Ombudsmen In
FEATURES/2000/england2.html
I was very much surprised to read a table
printed on DEONTOLOGIE
DES MEDIAS--Institutions, pratiques et nouvelles approches dans le monde. Professor Odd
Raaum of
According to this list on p. 42,
The issue of press ethics in
On p. 255 of this book, it is reported that the Yomiuri
Shinbun has a press ombudsman. My guess is that Mr. Takeshi Maesawa has told
experts abroad that he is an ombudsman of the paper. He had a column titled
“Ombudsman of Yomiuri Shinbun” in the Daily Yomiuri, which is the
English-language paper of the Yomiuri Shinbun.
The Yomiuri Shinbun, for its part, had admitted that Mr.
Maesawa’s self-proclaimed status of ombudsman was nothing of the kind, when
JIMPOREN made an inquiry with the paper in 1987. The paper said that Maesawa is
using the paper’s name on his own accord. Mr..Maesawa began criticizing the
president of the Yomiuri Shinbun fiercely after he retired from the Yomiuri and
began teaching at university.
Mr. Ian Mayes, the readers’ representative of The
Guardian newspaper, also believed that the Yomiuri had an ombudsman system in
place.
I
interviewed these experts:
Mr. Tom O’Malley, author of Regulating the press
Mr. Kenneth Morgan in the
Dr. Thorsten Cars in
In
closing, allow me to pass along a few weblinks that will give you a clearer
picture of my past and current work.
*Kyoto
Journal article
http://www.kampo.co.jp/kyoto-journal/media/asano.html
*Liaison Committee on Human Rights and Mass Media Conduct (JIMPOREN)
http://www.jca.ax.apc.org/~jimporen/welcome.html
*
index.html
(mostly in Japanese, but includes some "Feature Articles" toward the
bottom in English)
*Harvard Asia Quarterly essay text
*”Thursday
Night Talk” (radio talk show on KHSU-FM in Arcata,
FEATURES/2003/eusafmradiod.html