From the article of 'Petrel'
No.814 / March 18, 2001

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[EDITORIAL]
A Question of the Responsibility of the Mass Media

Yomiuri Shimbun's Series of "Proposals" on "Arresting Deflation"


Before and during the war, the mass media in Japan supported and glorified the imperialistic war of Japanese monopoly capital and the military, and carried out the most reactionary and criminal role of mobilizing the people for this war.

Then after the war, the media claimed to have learned from this bitter experience and reflected deeply on their errors. They promised that the media would no longer accommodate the government, and would resist when the government position was incorrect, and that their own greatest task would be to provide the people with correct information.

However, half a century later the media seem to have forgotten this promise, and are following the same path of the prewar period. Today they show no shame in carrying out a sordid role for the government. Here we are speaking of such newspapers as Yomiuri Shimbun and Sankei Shimbun. These reactionary newspapers are currying favor with the government, adopting the government views as their own (or in some cases the relationship is the reverse), and once again scheming to lead the people onto a "mistaken" path.

The fact that the Yomiuri Shimbun, together with the Liberal Democrats (LDP), led the way for the imposition of the national flag (Hinomaru) and national anthem (Kimigayo) is still fresh in our memories. The reactionary mass media has finally shifted to a critical position towards the Mori government, but they certainly have not given up the role of waving the banner of the LDP government.

Recently the Yomiuri Shimbun has become seized by a sense of crisis (and a certain "sense of duty") due to the seriousness of economic contradictions and the decay of LDP politics, and have issued a series of recommendations. Their belief that this is "for the sake of the state" only reveals the sordid essence of the mass media who are they lackeys of the government. This not only reveals the essence of the commercial media, but also represents the overall "intentions" of big capital.

"Society as a whole is covered by an unspeakable sense of powerlessness and gridlock. The stock prices are languishing at the lowest levels since the collapse of the bubble. Production is contracting, and unemployment is at a historically high level. Fears of financial instability are being rekindled. A terrible deflation is slowly destroying the people's lives." (translated from Japanese article)

In this way, the Yomiuri Shimbun calls for the revival of politics and the establishment of a new government. The newspaper has recently published a series of recommendations that the new government should carry out. The six-part series is entitled "Arresting Deflation [title in the English version of the Yomiuri Shimbun]." However, this series of articles is merely a summary of the things that the LDP government, particularly Mori's government, have done up to now. In this sense, the recommendations of the Yomiuri Shimbun have a deceptive appearance.

The first article advocates the creation of a "strong cabinet" to "restore the people's trust", and in this way to "display the leadership ability for economic activity." In other words, the appeal for strong state power.

The second article says that "arresting deflation" is the ultimate task-in other words a policy of inflation is necessary. They are essentially saying that inflation is the only way out of the confused economy. This is the exact same opinion as Mori and Miyazawa (Finance Minister).

The third article puts pressure on the Bank of Japan: telling the BOJ to "ease the quantitative phase of monetary policy"-i.e. continuing the policy of infusing money into the economy-and to "not hesitate to reinstate the zero-interest-rate policy.

The forth article warns against "exacerbating anxiety over the financial system", and calls for arrangements to be made to dispose of bad debts. Recently this has been emphasized in particular, and is nothing but a restatement of the thoughtless calls for the "direct removal" of bad debts.

The fifth article discusses restructuring of industry, and a "vision for fiscal and social welfare systems"-in other words setbacks in the welfare system.

The final article proposes what capital is now noisily calling for: namely "to unite all forces to shore up the stock market". In other words, policies to artificially raise the price of stocks.

In short, the Yomiuri Shimbun is merely beating the drum for the policies of the LDP government, and there is nothing that can be called new in any sense. They only thing that could be said to be different is that they are calling for the LDP government to go even more in the direction of state power and financial expansion.

Indeed, the essence of their "proposal" is the call for a "strong cabinet" to display the "leadership to deal with crisis control and economic revival." They openly demand a strong government, and this can only mean the desire for despotism.

It is characteristic that they urge "monetary easing" and the continuation of the zero-interest-rate policy. This is merely a restatement of what the LDP is saying, and they are also encouraging these kinds of anarchical economic policies.

Their most passionate demand is for policies for the stock market. When Mori assumed power, the Tokyo stock market was over the 20,000 level, but now it is at around 12,000, which represents a nearly 60% drop in just one year, and over 10 billion yen in the stock value has "vanished into thin air".

With the loss of this vast amount of wealth, how can they speak of capitalist prosperity is possible-this shows the dim wits of the Yomiuri Shimbun. This is also the overall view of the capitalist power.

The newspaper also brings up a proposal to make real estate more fluid and revise the securities tax. In short, this advice amounts to a call to recreate a stock bubble. This proposal hardly merits comment. It is not likely that the economy will be "restored" through such policies.

Their stock policy comes down to the call for a system that makes more profit from stocks possible and further increases the benefits for the privileged. This is the idea that if the stock market rises, people who buys stocks will profit, the banks and large businesses will obtain profits, and everyone will be happy, and that the wealth gained through the rise in land and stock prices cannot be called a fantasy.

In a word, this is the idea that the key to economic recovery lies in a nakedly selfish policy in the interests of capital and the wealthy classes, since this will "revive" the power of capital. This is the basis and essence of the "policy" of the power of capital. The reactionary mass media is merely presenting the views of the bourgeoisie.

(Translated by Roy/West)