Japan’s ‘cowardly’ media fails to take on corporate giants

News Snapshot:

The ruling Liberal Democratic Party, in power almost continuously since 1955, presides over a system in which questions to government ministers are vetted and access to information is carefully controlled through mysterious institutions known as “Kisha clubs”. Each government authority has a press club. Membership is restricted to journalists from one of the major newspapers or television stations who spend most of their working life in the members’ rooms waiting to be selectively briefed on stories. Fearful and cowardly A big part of the job is cultivating sources and keeping them onside. Journalists say if they criticise their sources or...