Light and Shadow in the Name of Weekly Magazine: Memories of the Yomiuri Brush Failure Incident in the 1970s

Light and Shadow in the Name of Weekly Magazine: Memories of the Yomiuri Brush Failure Incident in the 1970s

In the 1970s, Japan was at the height of its rapid economic growth, and society as a whole was riding a wave of change. People's lives became more affluent, and media such as television and weekly magazines became more accessible. At the same time, however, the state of journalism was increasingly questioned. The "Yomiuri Weekly Brush Scandal," in particular, was one of the symbolic events of this period.

In the discussions surrounding this incident, Yasuhisa Yazaki, Naonori Isomura, and Takashi Iwakawa of the "Ushio" reporting team appeared as witnesses. From their respective perspectives, they spoke about the role of weekly magazines, freedom of the press, and the problems of commercialism. Yasuhisa Yazaki recalls, "At the end of the 1960s, journalism was like a light illuminating a new era. However, that light was soon swallowed by the wave of commercialism and faded away, he said. Weekly magazines were supposed to be a place to tell the truth, but they began to write articles while looking out for the faces of advertisers. And this incident forced the editorial department to be constantly aware of the pressure of 'litigation risk,'" he says.

Naonori Isomura is another who has witnessed the transition of the media. He says, "The positions of newspapers and weeklies have always been different. While newspapers aimed at fair reporting, weeklies were destined to be sensationalists," he recalls. He continues, "It is true that articles in weekly magazines have had a great impact on society, but nowadays, too much consideration of the risk of lawsuits has resulted in a narrowing of the freedom of the press. We should rethink who the press is for.

Takashi Iwakawa, a member of the "Ushio" news team, also felt strongly that the case should not be dismissed as a mere defamation issue. This incident was a test of the media's autonomy and a questioning of the state of journalism as a whole," he said. Is the weekly really fulfilling its role as a 'bellwether of society'? Attention was also focused on how politicians respond to the influence of the weeklies. The possibility that politicians, fearing the power of the press, will move to control the media in the future cannot be denied," Iwakawa warned.

The Yomiuri Weekly Brush Failure incident highlighted not only the state of journalism, but also the relationship between the media and society. This incident marked a major change in the world of weekly magazines. Fearing lawsuits, editorial departments began to avoid aggressive articles, and reporters began to rely on "safe information" through press clubs rather than independent reporting. As a result, the weekly magazines placed the highest priority on "making sales," and began to focus on gossip and scandals rather than social issues. Then, as the relationship between politicians and the media became closer after the Tanaka Kakuei administration, "journalism that fights against the government" gradually declined, and reports that pandered to the masses became the mainstream.

The theme that emerges in the discussion of this case is the "struggle between freedom of the press and commercialism. Weekly newspapers, which once served as watchdogs of power, gradually became entangled in commercialism in the 1970s. Reporters were forced to constantly self-censor what they should write and to what extent. But is this really in the best interest of readers? The press was supposed to be a means of communicating the truth. But has that truth been swept away in the face of commercial success?

What does it take for a weekly magazine to function as a watchdog of power? To find the answer, we need to return once again to the starting point of what journalism is all about. The Yomiuri Weekly scandal was not just one scandal, but an important turning point that made us think about where the Japanese media is headed.