Yesterday (Jan. 9), Shinzo Abe’s second Facebook
post of the year and the first with any real substance—he posted his greetings
on New Year’s Day—set forth the terms and conditions for media access.
Specifically, the twice-a-day cling-ons, which had been suspended during the Kan
administration after 3.11, will be discontinued for good. Conversation with the Prime Minister, a talk show alternately
hosted by NHK and the private networks since 1961, and group interviews with
newspaper reporters, will also be abolished. Abe will grant interviews to news
services and programs on a one-by-one basis. He will also hold press
conferences when the occasion warrants it. The chief cabinet secretary will
continue to give twice-a-day press briefings. The comments are all positive; Abe
appears to have activated his counter-irony app. The following Bing translation
serve as a good example of the overall tone of the comments..
“Prime Ministers official residence FB
nice! We have to. I was impressed by the quickness of execution of Prime
Minister Shinzo Abe walk the talk! I am rooting for.”
I’m sure that all this very much displeases
the mainstream reporters on the kantei beat,
and will reduce Abe’s margin of error when it comes to media coverage, especially
in print. I’m also sure that his political team, including PM Koizumi’s
majordomo Isao Iijima, believes that the benefits—avoiding bloopers—of controlling
access outweighs those costs.
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