(Japan Economic Newswire)TOKYO, Dec. 27_(Kyodo) _ Japan's two major media groups on Tuesday opposed a government decision the same day that allows police to decide whether to disclose names of crime victims, saying that anonymity would make news-gathering activities about victims very difficult and could help the police hide matters unfavorable to them.
The Japan Newspaper Publishers and Editors Association and the National Association of Commercial Broadcasters in Japan made the appeal in a joint statement.
The Asahi, Mainichi and Yomiuri daily newspapers, public broadcaster NHK, and Kyodo News are members of the Japan Newspaper Publishers and Editors Association, while Tokyo-based TV stations NTV, TBS, Fuji, TV Asahi and TV Tokyo are members of the National Association of Commercial Broadcasters in Japan.
The two groups issued the statement in response to Tuesday's Cabinet decision that endorsed a 258-point plan to support crime victims, which includes a passage stating that the police should decide whether crime victims' names should be disclosed. The government made the decision despite media opposition.
The statement says that the real names of crime victims must be made public to help the media conduct "correct and objective news gathering, verification and reporting" in order to meet the public's right to know.
It should be the media who decide whether to report crime victims' names in each case while giving due consideration to those victims, the statement says.
The two media groups also said in the document that they would keep a strict watch on police activities in an effort to prevent the police from arbitrarily using the passage in question.
On Tuesday, the Cabinet endorsed the crime-victim support plan which was worked out upon the enforcement in April of a law to help crime victims. The law requires the central and local governments to provide crime victims with consultations and information, assistance in filing damages suits, allowances and health and welfare services, and the chance to participate in criminal procedures.
