A reader spots an article carried in the corner of a page of a newspaper, and that reader's interest in society grows. To fulfill our role of connecting readers with society, we will strive to improve our coverage.
Newspaper Week starts on Tuesday. "By opening a newspaper, I came to know about the world" is this year's slogan. This was devised by a second-year junior high school student in the city of Tokushima.
By reading an article about how Malala Yousafzai, a Nobel Peace Prize winner, has opened schools at refugee camps, he reportedly said, "I learned that unlike me living in Japan, there are children in the world who don't even have a chance to study."
A newspaper article may have shown him a way to widen his vision.
Classes utilizing newspapers have been held at schools. This is an attempt to have students compare news articles written on such topics as the environment and the chronically low birthrate, or summarize them in a composition. By providing them with various perspectives through multifaceted articles, we want to contribute to the improvement of children's ability to think and to express themselves.
In recent years, a growing number of people are getting information via the internet, but there is a great deal of inaccurate content among internet-based information.
According to a public opinion survey taken by The Yomiuri Shimbun, more than 40 percent of the respondents said they had accepted fake or inaccurate news on the internet as true. What they counted on newspapers for the most was their accurate reporting of information. We once again feel strongly the responsibility of continuing to gather news painstakingly and report it accurately.
It is worrisome that there is a conspicuous number of cases in which the real names of the victims or people otherwise involved in serious incidents have not been made public.
In the arson-murder case involving a Kyoto Animation Co. studio, it took a long time for the Kyoto prefectural police to release the names of the victims. This was because the police decided whether to do so while ascertaining the wishes of the bereaved families.
News organizations seek to have real names made public because concrete information is needed so that everyone in our society can accept an incident as a matter of fact.
The practice of using real names in news reports is also significant because it places a high value on the dignity of a victim as an individual person, instead of an anonymous "someone."
Needless to say, the privacy of victims and their bereaved families must be considered to the greatest extent possible. We should not forget to take the stance of standing alongside the victims.
As we have entered the internet era, the risk has grown of such problems as thoughtless messages being written on social media when real names are made public. There is no denying that these risks have caused distrust among victims and others involved.
It must be recognized that acts such as transmitting irresponsible and inaccurate pieces of information on the internet could consequently impair the people's right to know.
Under the consumption tax rate hike implemented this month, a reduced tax rate system has been applied to newspaper subscriptions. We will take our duty seriously as a common asset of our society to underpin democracy.
(From The Yomiuri Shimbun, Oct. 14, 2019)
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