[Grandpa Saw It!] Part 2: Hiroko Kuniya - I loved Kuniya-san's 'Close-up Gendai'

In the first part, I introduced a facet of the pride felt by Hiroko Kuniya, who served as the anchor for NHK's Close-up Gendai for 23 years, after reading her book, 'The Job of an Anchor.' This is the follow-up second part. No matter how much I read the book, I couldn't quite understand why she was suddenly taken off the program. However, I could clearly understand her pride as a freelance anchor. I was moved.
I was moved.

✅ Happenings because it's a live broadcast

Kuniya-san's commitment to live broadcasting, rather than programs edited later, sometimes created dissonance with guests.

So Kuramoto, after watching the preview, surprised the staff by saying, 'Christmas is not a day to have things done for you. It is a day to do things for others. The VTR report depicts wanting this and wanting that. It's completely different.' 'I'm going home.' and left.

It is said that during the live broadcast, Kuramoto did not comment on the VTR report at all.

Also, the critic Takashi Tachibana told her during a live guest talk, 'I completely disagree with the way of thinking that appeared in the report just now.' (May Takashi Tachibana rest in peace.)

✅ Regrets from 23 years of Close-up Gendai

Regarding the episode 'Tracking the "Priesthood Fraud" - Religious Corporations Targeted,' Kuniya-san deeply regretted that there was 'excessive production' in the VTR report, and that the BPO pointed out a 'distortion of facts.'

She expressed regret over how she missed it during the preliminary preview and review, and reflected on how a news program can lose the trust of its viewers in an instant.

Also, regarding VTR editing, she describes a complaint from a kindergarten in the episode 'We'll Take Care of Your Baby - The Strategy of a Kindergarten That Started Childcare,' as something she still regrets.

She spoke about the importance of editorial autonomy regarding the point where the 'Broadcasting and Human Rights Committee' pointed out issues with broadcasting ethics, noting that from the perspective of the kindergarten that was covered, the broadcast was one-sided and significantly lacked balance.

Furthermore, as a regret purely regarding the subject matter of the coverage, she writes, 'Regarding the rapidly increasing number of dispatched workers, I did not sufficiently see the consequences, such as the lack of a safety net.'

While she felt that the environmental changes surrounding 'employment' were the most significant during her 23 years on Close-up Gendai, she expresses regret that regarding the expansion of the scope of dispatched labor, 'Rapidly Increasing Dispatched Employees' on May 20, 1999, and after a considerable gap, 'Will Dispatched Employees Change the Manufacturing Industry?' on December 7, 2004 were the only programs broadcast, and she expressed regret that she did not sufficiently see the lack of a safety net for the rapidly increasing number of dispatched workers.

✅ Points of pride

She wrote that Close-up Gendai carefully conveyed the major swells and structures of the global economy.

1) The dangers of subprime loans
that spread in the US, lending money to people with low repayment ability using their homes as collateral. 2) The mechanism of the global financial crisis triggered by the Lehman Shock.

She also wrote about the significance of programs that looked at regional revitalization, the state of administration, and local finances in search of 'dark murmurs' as follows.

★☆★☆★☆★☆

While the primary function of journalism is likely the monitoring of power, it is also a role that journalism must fulfill to convey the problems faced by those in vulnerable positions widely, by exercising sensitivity and imagination toward the socially disadvantaged so that society as a whole can share in their pain.

★☆★☆★☆★

I also empathized with this content, thinking, "That makes sense."

✅ Notification of dismissal

On December 26, 2015, Kuniya-san was informed that her contract as the anchor for Close-up Gendai, a job she had held for 23 years, would not be renewed for the 2016 fiscal year.

Since Kunio Yanagida, a guest on the final episode, left behind the “Four Articles for Young People Living in a Japan in Crisis” (the original text had eight articles, but it was introduced as four on the program), I would like to transcribe them here to convey Kuniya-san's thoughts.

1. Develop the habit of thinking for yourself. Take time to stop and think. Develop the ability to think logically without being swayed by emotions.

2. Develop the ability to decipher the underlying issues in information (reports) regarding political and social problems.

3. Strive to understand the feelings and thoughts of others.

4. Know that there are diverse ways of thinking.

5. Acquire appropriate means of expression. Make an effort to have others accurately understand your own thoughts.

6. Take action yourself, even for small things, and understand and practice that meeting various people is the best way to cultivate your inner self and enrich your life. In particular, practice doing things for others, such as volunteer activities. You will begin to see the hidden realities at the bottom of society.

7. Engrave in your heart that the actual site, the actual object, and the actual people (those with experience, those involved) are the best textbooks to activate your thinking power, and make an effort to access them with your own feet.

8. Even if you are disappointed by failure or hitting a wall, do not despair; cherish your own thoughts and continue to act steadily.

I thought, aren't these "8 Articles" also the pride of a professional anchor? How did you all feel about them?

Recent television seems to have an intention to incite viewers for the sake of ratings by taking the slips of the tongue of politicians and bureaucrats out of context, ignoring the background of the remarks, and picking out only "ripple" remarks to say "that is unforgivable."

Since this is the case even for television where the BPO functions, I ask that you all please be very careful with information on the internet, including social media.

Thank you for reading until the end.

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