President of Japanese Newspaper Apologizes for Errors
President of Japanese Newspaper Apologizes for Errors
Asahi Shimbun President Cites Errors in Reporting on Fukushima Investigation
TOKYO—The president of a leading Japanese newspaper critical of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's policies apologized Thursday over errors in its reporting on controversial subjects, and promised to carry out reforms.
Tadakazu Kimura, president of the left-leaning Asahi 3407.TO -0.19% Shimbun newspaper, said mistakes were made in the paper's scoop on leaked testimony of the late manager of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear-power plant, and said he would remove the paper's executive editor from his post.
"As top management, I myself cannot evade responsibility for hurting the trust of our readers," Mr. Kimura said, adding that he will decide on his own future after initiating fundamental changes.
Masao Yoshida, plant head at Fukushima Daiichi during the March 2011 nuclear accident, gave testimony to a government commission investigating the accidents. The Asahi, which has been critical of nuclear power and Mr. Abe's plans to restart idled reactors, first published parts of the testimony in May.
Citing the testimony, the newspaper said employees at the plant violated Mr. Yoshida's orders and temporarily left their posts to seek shelter on March 15, four days after the disaster, after hearing an explosion at one of the plant's reactors.
The newspaper cited the episode as casting doubts on the plant's operator, Tokyo Electric Power Co. 9501.TO +0.77% , and more broadly on the nation's big utility companies. But the paper's claims came under scrutiny after a rival, right-leaning paper got a copy of the testimony and said the Asahi deliberately exaggerated its story and "twisted the facts" to advance its agenda.
The Sankei Shimbun newspaper said the plant's management sought shelter in confusion, but had no intention of violating the orders of Mr. Yoshida, who died in 2013.
"We will retract our description that they evacuated against orders, and would like to offer our sincere apologies to our readers and the people at Tepco," Mr. Kimura said.
The government released Mr. Yoshida's testimony to the public Thursday to set the record straight and prevent selective quotation by news outlets.
Mr. Kimura's apology comes as the 135-year-old newspaper faces mounting criticism for errors on the politically sensitive issue of "comfort women," who were forced into sexual service for Japanese soldiers during World War II.
In August, the Asahi retracted articles quoting a now-deceased Japanese man who said he had forcibly removed Korean women from their homes for sexual service, saying his accounts couldn't be confirmed. Rival newspapers and tabloids jumped on the Asahi, saying the errors hurt the paper's credibility and were responsible for amplifying diplomatic tensions between Tokyo and Seoul, which disagree bitterly over the treatment of such women.
Prime Minister Abe has been critical of the Asahi's reporting on the comfort-women issue. During a radio interview Thursday, he said the Asahi's inaccurate reports led to the "suffering of many people, and discredited Japan's standing in the international community."
The Asahi has criticized Mr. Abe's hawkish national security policies and his decision to lift a ban on the use of the military, so Japanese forces could come to the aid of allies if they ever came under attack.
The Asahi faced more pressure when it refused to publish an opinion piece by a well-known journalist on the paper's retraction of its comfort-women articles. Facing a public backlash and questions over its commitment to free expression, the paper quickly reversed its decision and published the article.
The incidents have tarnished the reputation of the respected paper, which boasts one of the highest circulations in Japan, selling millions of copies daily.
Write to Alexander Martin at alexander.martin@wsj.com
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