Hatoyama Is Attacked by Geeks for Breaking the Promise

The biggest topic about Hatoyama administration on the Web was the news never reported in the major media: exclusion of reporters outside of the press club from the press conference. It's outrageous because Hatoyama promised in a press conference, when he was a leader of the opposition party, that he would open the press conference of the Cabinet if he would be the Prime Minister.

Jimbo Tetsuo, a video journalist on the Web, went to the Prime Minister's office on September 16 but blocked by the guards. He investigated the reason and reported it in detail. According to him, the Chief of the Cabinet Hirano Hirofumi admitted only five reporters from magazines and some more from foreign press as observers who couldn't ask questions. If it's true, Hirano broke the promise that his boss made in the press conference.

As the DPJ doesn't disclose the detail yet, it's unclear who is to blame. But some lawmakers were attacked in Twitter and promised to investigate the process. Foreign Minister Okada Katsuya promised to open every press conference for any media. However, it was only Sports Nippon that reported the news.

Even for me, who was working for a TV station, the closed nature of Japan's press club was bizarre. Japan is only one country in the world that has such clubs. Foreign press has attacked and laughed at it for a long time, but LDP and bureaucrats protected the clubs because they can manipulate media easily via them.

However, the change will come. My message about Okada's decision collected more than 200 Re-Twitters in an hour. All of them applauded Okada. If Hatoyama follows Okada, the DPJ would be supported by geeks, who represent the coming generation.