“News Watch 9”, which was broadcast on May 15th this year, aired a one-minute video with the theme of “One week since the transition to Type 5 COVID-19 and the return to normal life”, and in this video, there was a video about vaccination. Interviews with three bereaved families of people who later passed away were misinterpreted as people who died after being infected with the coronavirus.
The BPO Broadcasting Ethics Verification Committee, which has been deliberating on this matter, released its opinion on the 5th.
The report found that there was a violation of broadcasting ethics, saying, “The program deviated from the basics of a news/reporting program, which is to accurately report the facts, betrayed the trust of the viewers, and caused serious harm to the feelings of the bereaved families.”
The problems with this broadcast were that it significantly deviated from the basics of reporting, that support for the interview was inadequate, and that the check function did not work.
Furthermore, he points out that the way in which “the death of a person” was conveyed was too light.
He went on to state that “raising the level of awareness of news in the field and sensitivity to journalism is an urgent issue,” adding that “efforts will be focused on expanding the system that supports reporting and production by people with little experience and young people.” I want to.”
In response, NHK said, “We take BPO’s findings seriously.We reaffirm our basic stance of seeking to get to the truth at every stage of reporting and production, and are implementing measures to prevent recurrence, including thorough journalism education.” We will steadily carry out the project and report on and produce programs that will earn the trust of viewers.”
