安倍晉三被批閹割日本媒體

When Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe spoke on the southern island of Okinawa last week he faced loud heckling — but Japan’s media did not report it.

日本首相安倍晉三(Shinzo Abe)上週在日本南部的沖繩島發表講話時，遭到大聲詰難，但日本媒體卻並未報道此事。

Such heckling is highly unusual in decorous Japan so the decision to ignore it by many news outlets, including national broadcaster NHK and the top circulation Yomiuri newspaper, shows how successfully Mr Abe has cowed, or co-opted, the Japanese press, say critics of the prime minister.

安倍的批評者稱，在注重禮儀的日本，這樣的詰難十分罕見，因此，包括日本國家廣播電視機構日本放送協會(NHK)和日本發行量最高的報紙《讀賣新聞》(Yomiuri)在內的諸多媒體決定忽略此事，充分表明安倍在脅迫和籠絡日本媒體方面做得有多麼成功。

Mr Abe appointed a close supporter as director-general of NHK and targeted the liberal Asahi newspaper’s coverage of wartime “comfort women” in moves that stoked fears about press freedom in Japan.

安倍曾將一名與其關係密切的支持者任命爲NHK的會長，並針對自由派報紙《朝日新聞》(Asahi)關於戰時“慰安婦”的報道採取了多項措施，這些措施引發了對日本新聞自由的擔憂。

It emerged at the weekend that a group of young parliamentarians from Mr Abe’s Liberal Democratic party want to put pressure on businesses to withdraw advertising to discipline recalcitrant media outlets.

上週末有消息稱，安倍所在的自民黨(LDP)中，有一羣年輕議員打算對商界施加壓力，要他們撤回在不服管束的媒體發佈的廣告，以懲戒這些媒體。

“In terms of the heckling in Okinawa, the fact NHK didn’t really report it shows that the Abe government has largely succeeded in emasculating the Japanese media,” said Koichi Nakano, professor of politics at Sophia University in Tokyo.

東京上智大學(Sophia University)政治學教授中野浩一(Koichi Nakano)表示：“就安倍在沖繩受到的詰難而言，NHK實際上並未予以報道。這說明，安倍政府在很大程度上成功地閹割了日本媒體。”

Speaking at a war memorial ceremony, Mr Abe was heckled with shouts of “Warmonger!” and “Go home!”, showing the depth of feeling on Okinawa about plans to build a new US Marine Corps base on the island.

當時，在一個戰爭紀念儀式上發表講話的安倍，遭到一些人的大聲詰難，這些人高呼“戰爭販子！”和“滾回家去！”。這些口號突顯出沖繩民衆對在該島新建美海軍陸戰隊基地的計劃有多麼憤慨。

But a NHK news bulletin just showed brief clips of Mr Abe’s appearance at the end of an item about the 70th anniversary of the second world war battle of Okinawa. Both NHK and the Yomiuri declined to comment on editorial decisions.

但NHK的新聞節目只是在一則關於二戰沖繩戰役70週年紀念活動的新聞的末尾，播出了安倍在此次活動中亮相的幾個簡短鏡頭。NHK和《讀賣新聞》都拒絕就其編輯決策置評。

Concern about freedom of the press mounted after reports that the Culture and Arts study group of young LDP politicians, regarded as close to Mr Abe, had discussed ways to target hostile media at a meeting on June 25.

有報道稱，由年輕自民黨政客組成的“文化藝術懇話會”(Culture and Arts study group)曾在6月25日的一次會議上，討論了對付敵對媒體的辦法，這些年輕政客被認爲與安倍關係密切。這則報道令人們更加擔心日本的新聞自由狀況。

“The most effective way to punish the mass media is to make them lose advertising revenue and to do so, the government should apply pressure on Keidanren [Japan’s main business body],” one participant was reported to have said.

據報道，一名與會者曾表示：“懲戒大衆媒體的最有效方式，就是令它們失去廣告收入。要做到這一點，政府應對日本經濟團體聯合會（Keidanren，日本主要商業團體）施加壓力。”

Naoki Hyakuta, an author who spoke at the meeting, was quoted as saying that the two main Okinawa newspapers “must be closed down by any means”.

報道援引在會上發言的作家百田尚樹(Naoki Hyakuta)的言論稱，“必須動用一切手段關閉”沖繩的兩家主要報紙。

The LDP party moved quickly to stem the damage by attacks from its parliamentarians on the press becoming public. It sacked the convener of the Culture and Arts group from his position as head of the party’s youth division.

自民黨迅速採取行動，遏制該黨議員攻擊媒體一事曝光所產生的破壞性影響，解除了此次文化藝術懇話會召集人的自民黨青年局局長職務。

“Freedom of expression is the root of democracy so it’s unacceptable for the LDP not to show our clear support for it,” Mr Abe said.

安倍表示：“言論自由是民主的根基。因此，對自民黨來說，不顯示出我們對言論自由的明確支持，是無法令人接受的。”

His government is struggling to push security laws through parliament. The laws reinterpret Japan’s pacifist constitution to let it fight in defence of allied forces.

目前，安倍政府正在艱難地推動安保法案在議會獲得通過。這一法案重新解釋了日本和平憲法，以使日本能夠爲保衛盟軍而作戰。

One reason for the stability of Mr Abe’s government over the past two and a half years has been his success in managing the media. Professor Nakano said it was “certainly true” the press has become weaker since Mr Abe came to power but that cracks are emerging as the prime minister’s popularity falls.

安倍政府在過去兩年半里保持穩定的原因之一，就是他成功地控制住了媒體。中野教授表示，安倍掌權以來，媒體“無疑”已經弱化，不過，隨着安倍支持率下滑，這種控制正在出現裂縫。

“The fact that the [Culture and Arts] story came out indicates that the control over the media by the government is getting less firm,” Mr Nakano said. “The government is becoming weak enough for the media to feel emboldened.”

中野表示：“（懇話會）那件事會曝光，說明政府對媒體的控制力沒有那麼強了。政府正在變弱，因此媒體的膽子也大了起來。”