Abe Arrives in Berlin to Attend G-8 Meet
Reviewed by Takahiro MIYAO
Article:
Abe Arrives in Berlin to Attend G-8 Meet
Daily Yomiuri (6/6/2007)
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/world/20070606TDY01005.htm
Reference:
Bush Pledges Concilication at G8
CNN.com (6/6/2007)
http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/europe/06/06/germany.summit/
Comments:
The Daily Yomiuri article simply reports that Prime Minister Abe has arrived in Berlin and plans to present a policy to take the initiative for an agreement between the US and the EU that are still apart over measures to fight global warming at the G-8 summit meeting in Germany. It also explains other topics that Mr. Abe wishes to take up at the summit or his one-to-one meetings with other nations' leaders. However, the article fails to mention the significance as well as pros and cons of this kind of summit meetings from the objective standpoint. It almost looks like a copy of the government spokesperson's memo on some policy agenda, rather than a public media report which is supposed to inform the public beyond official perspectives.
On the other hand, the CNN.com article in the Reference above reports not only on US President Bush's arrival in Germany and his plan to meet other leaders, but also on a series of violent protests of "anti-globalization groups" near the summit's main site. It is well known that those groups have been trying to interrupt important international events such as summit and WTO meetings by increasingly violent actions, and this summit is no exception.
While the mass media does not have to publicize violence per se, it is certainly their obligation to report on important developments like anti-globalization movements associated with international meetings to inform the general public of the formal as well as informal aspects of news events. Especially the Japanese media must review their stance for reporting international affairs in this regard.
Acknowledgment:
This review is adopted from the following blog (with its Japanese translation):
http://glocom.blog59.fc2.com/blog-date-20070607.html
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