Panel skips mention of scrapping broadcast law key clause

April 16, 2018

Tokyo- A Japanese government council on Monday stopped short of saying whether the country should scrap the broadcasting law's Article 4, which demands that broadcasters be politically fair in reporting.

Broadcasters strongly oppose the abolition of the political fairness clause, an idea floated within the government. Some lawmakers of the Liberal Democratic Party-led ruling bloc are also cautious about such a move.

The time has come to discuss reform measures on how broadcasting should respond to major changes in the environment, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told a meeting of the Regulatory Reform Promotion Council. But he made no mention of the idea.

The council listed three issues that should be discussed for broadcasting system reforms--how to create new business models amid progress in the fusion of broadcasting and telecommunications, diversify program content and achieve its overseas expansion, and build the best system for effective use of radio bands.

But a council member questioned whether the political fairness clause should be kept.

"Hasn't the clause become a means to protect the industry?" the member said. "We need a review in line with the times," the member added, calling on the council to consider scrapping the clause.

"For the effective use of radio bands, we need discussions on a wide range of issues," Eiji Hara, who chairs a working group of the council, told a press conference after the meeting. Jiji Press