It is probably standard that companies who are made to really work for their money would feel resentful and even a touch of jealousy at a company that gets pretty much free money for its mere existence. However, the ‘independent’ media continue to grunt in dissatisfaction at having to play to advertisers’ requests whilst the publicly funded NHK get off scotch free.
Obviously, this makes the rest of Japan’s media focus on any blunders, any possible criticisms it can throw at the NHK, and when there is one, a huge media fanfare is made as we are all given the opportunity to laugh at ‘yet another NHK gaffe.’
Anyway, I imagine that this latest NHK scandal came out of media’s stance of being ‘anti-anything-NHK’. According to weekly magazine Shukan Gendai, the NHK prearranged a situation where a woman (AKA Exposure Idol) is exposing her underwear in Tokyo’s Akihabara district. The weekly claims that they know the performance was faked, after the woman was arrested for the act and she testified to the Tokyo Metropolitan police that the director of ‘Newsflash Tokyo’, an NHK program, had made her do it.
However, the NHK object to the allegations, stating that “the director did ask the woman to be in our program, but we did not request that she do her performance.” However, the Shukan Gendai are demanding for an apology from the NHK.
To be quite honest, the woman is known as the ‘Exposure Idol’ and is probably out for any media attention she can get. Whether the NHK had demanded she do it for the cameras or she had done it for her pure pleasure, the scandal itself is hardly that important. But already many of the nation’s media are picking up on the story, and you can expect a few verbal fisticuffs to be thrown around as the NHK try to, unsuccessfully, defend itself and the media hyenas continue to try and tear around the edges of NHK’s bleeding flesh…
Mainichi Article: http://mainichi.jp/enta/geinou/news/20080520ddm012040090000c.html
Shukan Gendai: http://kodansha.cplaza.ne.jp/wgendai/index.html
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MTC (not verified)
May 23, 2008 - 09:51
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I could not fathom how
I could not fathom how exposing one's underwear in Akihabara was an exceptionally interesting form of street theater, requiring the attention of the national media. Since I could not understand the phenomenon, I assumed the coverage of one woman's exhibitionism was just another item of ratings-seeking detritus.
So I ignored it.
However, now that NHK, the network supported by the mandatory contributions of listeners and viewers, is seen to be behind it (so to speak) the story becomes VERY INTERESTING INDEED.
Thank you for the alert.