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The problem with Japanese mainstream media

Unpacking Japan

About this episode

Meet Martin Fackler, a journalist and author based in Japan. He sits down to talk to us about his career in China and Japan, what went into reporting his biggest stories, and the problems with Japan's kisha club system.


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0:00 Intro

0:50 Meet Martin

8:50 Advantages of a foreign journalist

15:48 Journalistic autonomy

29:20 Japanese bank extortion story

37:42 Managing information as a journalist

44:23 The Hainan incident

49:15 Running from the Chinese police

55:08 Responsibility to international conflict

59:54 The Japanese banking crisis

1:09:45 Responsibility as Tokyo Bureau Chief

1:15:34 The Fukushima disaster

1:31:45 Journalism vs. safety

1:40:53 Why don't we know what happened?

1:46:33 Failure of the Japanese media

1:56:07 The Japanese press oligarchies

2:06:28 Social media's influence on journalism

2:19:28 Why AI can't do journalism

2:22:53 Looking ahead


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https://x.com/martfack


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The problem with Japanese mainstream media

Unpacking Japan

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2:26:56

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