ＮＨＫの使命 政府の広報ではない

--The Asahi Shimbun, May 2
EDITORIAL: NHK must not serve simply as the government’s mouthpiece
（社説）ＮＨＫの使命　政府の広報ではない
 
Japan Broadcasting Corp. (NHK) is not the government’s public relations agency.
　ＮＨＫは、政府の広報機関ではない。

It cannot accomplish its mission as a news medium if it only reports the government’s announcements as its sole source.
当局の発表をただ伝えるだけでは、報道機関の使命は果たせない。

This is the most basic of the basics of broadcast journalism. But NHK President Katsuto Momii still doesn’t understand the core mission of the organization he has been heading for two years and three months now if his recent remarks are any indication.
　それは放送人としての「イロハのイ」だ。しかし、籾井勝人会長は就任から２年３カ月になるが、今もその使命を理解していないとしか思えない。

During an April 20 meeting of senior officials at NHK, Momii said the public broadcaster’s reporting on the recent destructive earthquakes in Kumamoto Prefecture and surrounding areas and the disaster’s possible effects on nuclear power generation should be “based on authorities’ official announcements,” according to informed sources.
NHK should focus on airing the official views announced by authorities, he reportedly said.
“If various assessments by experts were broadcast, it would only end up unnecessarily raising concerns among the public,” he was quoted as saying.
　籾井氏は、先月の熊本地震に関する局内会議で、原発に関する報道は「公式発表をベースに」と発言した。「当局の発表の公式見解を伝えるべきだ。いろいろある専門家の見解を伝えても、いたずらに不安をかき立てる」などとも指示した。

Momii expounded on his comments in response to a question about them during an April 26 session of the Lower House Committee of Internal Affairs and Communications.
　２６日の衆院総務委員会で籾井氏は、こう答弁している。

Momii said the official announcements he was referring to were information released by the Meteorological Agency, the Nuclear Regulation Authority and Kyushu Electric Power Co.
　「公式発表」とは「気象庁、原子力規制委員会、九州電力」の情報のこと。

As for Kyushu Electric Power’s Sendai nuclear plant in Kagoshima Prefecture, which is immediately south of Kumamoto Prefecture, Momii said he believed his organization should broadcast, without any additional reporting, announced information such as data provided by the radiation monitoring posts installed for issuing evacuation orders around the Sendai plant.
“If the NRA believes that the nuclear plant is safe or can remain in operation, we will just report it like that,” Momii told the committee.
鹿児島県にある川内（せんだい）原発については「（放射線量を監視する）モニタリングポストの数値などをコメントを加味せず伝える。規制委が、安全である、（稼働を）続けていいといえば、それを伝えていく」と考えているという。

During natural disasters, news media should, of course, strive to provide the public with accurate information as quickly and carefully as possible.
　災害の時、正確な情報を速く丁寧に伝えるよう努めるのは、報道機関として当然だ。

Announcements made by the central and local governments and various companies are, needless to say, important elements of news reports on such events.
自治体や政府、企業などの発表は言うまでもなく、ニュースの大事な要素である。

At the same time, however, it is also a vital role of the news media to examine and fact-check such announcements and report them along with views based on expert knowledge and responses from citizens.
　同時に、発表内容を必要に応じて点検し、専門知識に裏付けられた多様な見方や、市民の受け止めなどを併せて伝えるのも報道機関の不可欠な役割だ。

Momii’s instructions to senior NHK editors can be interpreted as a demand that only official announcements should be treated as facts.
　しかし籾井氏の指示は「公式発表」のみを事実として扱うことを求めているように受け取れる。

What he said is tantamount to an order that NHK should stop performing its most basic function, which is examining things from various angles and reporting facts from multiple viewpoints.
ものごとを様々な角度から見つめ、事実を多面的に伝えるという報道の基本を放棄せよと言っているに等しい。

Momii’s rationale for demanding that reports on these topics should be based on official views and announcements seems to be the necessity to reassure local residents.
　「住民に安心感を与える」ためというのが籾井氏の言い分のようだ。

If so, he is underestimating viewers’ ability to understand and assess news and information.
だが、それは視聴者の理解する力を見くびっている。

In a survey conducted last year by the NHK Broadcasting Culture Research Institute, 85 percent of the respondents said they wanted to select the information that suits their needs on their own. Moreover, 61 percent of the people surveyed said they were confident about their ability to grasp reliable data from a sea of information.
　ＮＨＫ放送文化研究所の昨年の調査では、８５％が「必要な情報は自分で選びたい」とし、６１％が「多くの情報の中から信頼できるものをより分けることができるほうだ」と回答した。

The survey shows that many viewers want not only information officially provided by the government and companies, but also multifaceted reports on various topics so that they can make their own evaluations and judgments.
　多くの視聴者は、政府や企業などが公式に与える情報だけでなく、多角的な報道を自分で吟味したいと考えているのだ。

Momii has a history of making comments that raise serious questions about his editorial stance and journalistic ethics.
In his inaugural press conference in 2014, Momii said, “We cannot say left when the government says right.”
　籾井氏は一昨年の就任会見で「政府が右ということを左というわけにはいかない」と発言。

Last year, when he was asked whether NHK would deal with the “comfort women" issue in its reports on the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II, he replied, “The government’s policy is the key.”
昨年は戦後７０年で「慰安婦問題」を扱うか問われ、「政府の方針がポイント」と語った。

Each time the NHK chief made remarks indicating loyal support for the government, he faced bitter criticism. But he is showing no signs of mending his ways.
　政府に寄り添うような発言はその都度批判されてきたが、一向に改まらない。

The very credibility of NHK’s entire news reporting could be destroyed unless Momii stops damaging it.
このままでは、ＮＨＫの報道全体への信頼が下がりかねない。