Jiji Press updated its official website on August 9, and reported that it had confirmed that the comment was made by a male cameraman belonging to the Photography Department of the company’s Imaging Center, and that it had issued a stern warning regarding the disturbance caused by the comment, “I will lower your approval rating,” during a standby interview with LDP President Sanae Takaichi held at the LDP headquarters on the afternoon of August 7. The statement, “I’ll lower your approval rating, ” is too harsh… Jiji Press apologized for the disturbance. These statements were broadcasted on live video from the interview location of Sanae Takaichi, the new president of Japan, and people asked on social networking sites, “Which reporter made these statements? The statement was flared up on SNS, with comments such as, “Which reporter said that? Jiji Press reported, “On the afternoon of April 7, during a standby interview with LDP President Sanae Takaichi at the LDP headquarters, a member of the press said, ‘I’m going to lower your approval rating. We have confirmed that the comment was made by a male cameraman belonging to the Photography Department of the Imaging Center and have given him a strict warning. The male cameraman was waiting with cameramen from other companies at the LDP headquarters for an interview with LDP President Takaichi in order to take pictures, and during a chat he said, “I’m going to lower his approval rating” and “I’m only going to show pictures that will lower his approval rating. There are other statements on social networking sites, but we have confirmed that they are not the statements of this cameraman. In addition, “Kiyomitsu Fujino, Director and Editorial Bureau Chief, gave the male cameraman a stern warning for causing doubts about the fairness and neutrality of the news report, even though it was a comment made in a chat room. Mr. Masaru Saito, General Manager of Jiji Press President’s Office I apologize for the discomfort and inconvenience caused to the Liberal Democratic Party and other concerned parties. We will thoroughly instruct our employees to ensure that our neutrality and fairness as a news organization will not be questioned,” he said, expressing regret and apologizing.
