On the Modern Media in Japan and America

Pictured: Zentokuji Temple, courtesy of the Fuji Film staff

by Kevin Burns

One function of the modern media is to ask questions and bring to account. This of course acts as a counter-balance to overly ambitious
politicians and those who are corrupt. This kind of media is rare in Japan with its` entrenched press club system, and has gone AWOL in America since 9/11.

We now see politicians acting in ways that transgress how the electorate feels. One example was Koizumi`s action of sending the troops to Iraq
despite protest. And his quip that "...sometimes politicians know best," in response to an opinion poll which clearly showed that the vast majority of Japanese were against sending the troops to Iraq.

If the modern media refuses to ask the questions and does not bring the power brokers to account when necessary, the society we live in starts to look startlingly like fascism.

There are many questions that I would like to ask. For Japanese politicians what
proof do you have that the atrocities like the Nanking massacre did not occur?
What about unit 731? Can you prove it did not exist and did not propogate horrible
experiments on the Chinese people and other nationals. There are many more questions.

For the American government I have many questions about 9/11: Why haven`t you released the video of the Boeing 757 hitting the Pentagon? What are the reasons why
this has not been released to the press? Who sold short the shares of the airlines
that supposedly hit the World Trade Center? Where is the wreckage of those planes?
There are many more.

I just cannot understand the media in America these days and their refusal to ask
these and many more questions that have a bearing on all the many young people who
are now loosing life and limb in Iraq and Afghanistan.

If you cannot understand this either, I urge you to ask your media to start doing their job, and ask the appropriate questions. Before it is too late.