4 ms·

There are too many myths peddled about Japan, internally and externally, to list here, and the article provides just one more example. It's not just the media's

There are too many myths peddled about Japan, internally and externally, to list here, and the article provides just one more example. It's not just the media's desire to draw wide ranging conclusions from specific, interesting stories, but also due to Japanese culture itself, a culture of putting appearances before truth, conveniently wrapped up in the (ironically) anodyne phrase "don't disturb the wa". One dangerous example being the distortion of the truth about COVID-19 spread in the run up to the Olympics. I expect the same over the next few months. As to the larger picture though, I'm not sure why anyone trusts journalists nowadays. In an age of greater access to information their previous stranglehold on "the truth" has repeatedly been shown to be a sham and trusting factcheckers seems to be repeating exactly the same mistake over again but with added naïveté - "Oh, they're factcheckers, that must be true! Giving them that title immediately renders these humans incapable of bias…". The article even wants us to continue to swallow the blatant lie that some reasonably large proportion of stories go through a "rigorous fact-checking process" and even then couldn't withstand lies from sources. Please, you may as well tell me Santa is really going to drop off my presents this year, which would nice given the chaos at ports (thanks again, COVID-19 and lies about contagion). The "age of big data" and democratised access to data and communication (something that governments and media companies, old and new, have been seeking to reverse) has inadvertently created an "age of epistemology" for which most seem unprepared, journalists being among the least prepared. I have precisely zero sympathy.

nilsleep 6y ago
Agreed but it's not just Japan but pretty much every country in the world. And all countries do the same to each other. Projecting their own fears and insecurities into others.
gaudat 6y ago
I have always been thinking what the role fact-checkers act in our way of consuming information. Every time I see "fact-checkers" exist it is to reiterate the view of the readers, or even worse, to assert bias. It's like critical thinking is never taught to or discovered by them.
howlgarnish 6y ago
"There are too many myths peddled about Japan ... also due to Japanese culture itself, a culture of putting appearances before truth." Are you suggesting that this culture is somehow uniquely Japanese? Because I've yet to work at a company that didn't do to the same.
- crooked-v 6y ago
  Or, say, the current US president.
- brigandish 6y ago
  > Are you suggesting that this culture is somehow uniquely Japanese? Did I write that? No, I didn't, thanks for noticing. How you managed to take that from what I wrote is for you alone to explain.
markdown 6y ago
> I'm not sure why anyone trusts journalists nowadays. What the alternative? To get our information from places like informationclearinghouse?
- brigandish 6y ago
  Alternatives are difficult, I agree, though I believe they exist. It's possible to distrust, or at the least, be sceptical of information or the intentions of those providing information while also consuming and acting upon that information. To push for greater freedom of speech, and hence privacy protections, while also pushing for greater transparency from powerful entities would be my political recipe for helping the general state of things.
unethical_ban 6y ago
>As to the larger picture though, I'm not sure why anyone trusts journalists nowadays. I see HN has imported the cynicism of the 2020 slashdot crowd. I'm sick and tired of this viewpoint. Your false dichotomy is eyerolling - either we have total faith in all stories we read, with zero attention to detail and context, or we condemn all journalists as hacks, bad faith actors, and relics of the past: That knowledge is either meaningless, or easily compiled and comprehended in its raw format to the layman. We need journalism. And in the new century where we will have stronger disinformation campaigns, better deepfakes, and the potential collapse of local news as we know it, "trust" in institutions and particular sources, based on their track record and credibility, will be all we have. Not everything is verifiable, and we as humans need to act on information we can't verify all the time. So instead of going on about how all journalists suck, let's call out errors and bad work when we see it, and continue to push for better journalism and new ways of researching, citing, and reporting facts.
- deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]
- brigandish 6y ago
  I'll try again. I didn't claim that all journalists suck. Please try not to fall prey to black and white thinking when you're accusing someone of it. > We need journalism. I agree. > let's call out errors I agree. > and bad work when we see it I do and am. > and continue to push for better journalism and new ways of researching, citing, and reporting facts I agree again. I didn't write "all journalists suck" but since you seem to think I did, how would it be mutually exclusive with needing journalism, calling out errors etc and pushing for better journalism? That would interest me.
  - unethical_ban 6y ago
    Essentially, when I read someone say "I don't know why anyone trusts journalists anymore", I triage the comment into the alt-right and/or nihilist folder. I know why we trust journalists. Because a number of them, though imperfect, do fantastic work reporting on the events of the world. Anyway. No big deal. I tend to see this sentiment bubbling up here, and it concerns me.
freetime2 6y ago
> One dangerous example being the distortion of the truth about COVID-19 spread in the run up to the Olympics. I expect the same over the next few months. Can you give an example? I read a lot of speculation on the internet that there was some conspiracy by the Japanese government to conceal the extent of covid infections prior to the Olympics, but have yet to see any concrete evidence. In fact, I would give Japan pretty high marks for their handling of pandemic thus far. They rank 140 in world currently in deaths per 1M population [1] (meaning 139 countries have suffered more deaths), despite taking a fairly soft stance toward lock downs. And in my opinion the government has done a good job delivering clear and consistent messaging about the number of new infections, what actions they are taking to prevent the spread of the virus, what types of things residents should avoid doing, etc. [2] [1] https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/ https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/ [2] NHK Covid page (in Japanese, but translates reasonably well in Chrome) https://www3.nhk.or.jp/news/special/coronavirus/ https://www3.nhk.or.jp/news/special/coronavirus/
- presentation 6y ago
  Living here I find their messaging contradictory and confusing. You should social distance—but we'll give you discounts on eating out, the more people the bigger the discount (Go To Eat Campaign)! But actually you should stay home... but hey if you travel around the country we'll give you steep discounts on your hotels and local expenses (Go To Travel Campaign)!! Coupled with the articles earlier on in the pandemic talking about doctors being unable to give their patients COVID tests (which may have had more to do with limited supplies or the lack of treatment capability, to be fair) [1][2][3]; as well as the pretty high cost of getting a negative PCR test result here (I got a test, tested positive (minor case), and it was covered by national insurance for around $15; but my friends who tested negative after coming in contact with me, paid about $300 each for their tests) leads me to think the published numbers are probably pretty inaccurate. I'm not really complaining as society seems to be functioning fine, but if the numbers were worse I would be. [1] http://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/13188937 http://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/13188937 [2] https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2020/05/07/national/testing-corpses-coronavirus/ https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2020/05/07/national/testin... [3] https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-japan-testing/japan-uses-just-a-fraction-of-its-coronavirus-testing-capacity-idUSKBN2150ZR https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-japan-...

nilsleep 6y ago

Agreed but it's not just Japan but pretty much every country in the world. And all countries do the same to each other. Projecting their own fears and insecurities into others.

gaudat 6y ago

I have always been thinking what the role fact-checkers act in our way of consuming information. Every time I see "fact-checkers" exist it is to reiterate the view of the readers, or even worse, to assert bias. It's like critical thinking is never taught to or discovered by them.

howlgarnish 6y ago

"There are too many myths peddled about Japan ... also due to Japanese culture itself, a culture of putting appearances before truth." Are you suggesting that this culture is somehow uniquely Japanese? Because I've yet to work at a company that didn't do to the same.

crooked-v 6y ago
Or, say, the current US president.
brigandish 6y ago
> Are you suggesting that this culture is somehow uniquely Japanese? Did I write that? No, I didn't, thanks for noticing. How you managed to take that from what I wrote is for you alone to explain.

markdown 6y ago

> I'm not sure why anyone trusts journalists nowadays. What the alternative? To get our information from places like informationclearinghouse?

brigandish 6y ago
Alternatives are difficult, I agree, though I believe they exist. It's possible to distrust, or at the least, be sceptical of information or the intentions of those providing information while also consuming and acting upon that information. To push for greater freedom of speech, and hence privacy protections, while also pushing for greater transparency from powerful entities would be my political recipe for helping the general state of things.

unethical_ban 6y ago

>As to the larger picture though, I'm not sure why anyone trusts journalists nowadays. I see HN has imported the cynicism of the 2020 slashdot crowd. I'm sick and tired of this viewpoint. Your false dichotomy is eyerolling - either we have total faith in all stories we read, with zero attention to detail and context, or we condemn all journalists as hacks, bad faith actors, and relics of the past: That knowledge is either meaningless, or easily compiled and comprehended in its raw format to the layman. We need journalism. And in the new century where we will have stronger disinformation campaigns, better deepfakes, and the potential collapse of local news as we know it, "trust" in institutions and particular sources, based on their track record and credibility, will be all we have. Not everything is verifiable, and we as humans need to act on information we can't verify all the time. So instead of going on about how all journalists suck, let's call out errors and bad work when we see it, and continue to push for better journalism and new ways of researching, citing, and reporting facts.

deleted 6y ago
[deleted]
brigandish 6y ago
I'll try again. I didn't claim that all journalists suck. Please try not to fall prey to black and white thinking when you're accusing someone of it. > We need journalism. I agree. > let's call out errors I agree. > and bad work when we see it I do and am. > and continue to push for better journalism and new ways of researching, citing, and reporting facts I agree again. I didn't write "all journalists suck" but since you seem to think I did, how would it be mutually exclusive with needing journalism, calling out errors etc and pushing for better journalism? That would interest me.
- unethical_ban 6y ago
  Essentially, when I read someone say "I don't know why anyone trusts journalists anymore", I triage the comment into the alt-right and/or nihilist folder. I know why we trust journalists. Because a number of them, though imperfect, do fantastic work reporting on the events of the world. Anyway. No big deal. I tend to see this sentiment bubbling up here, and it concerns me.

freetime2 6y ago

> One dangerous example being the distortion of the truth about COVID-19 spread in the run up to the Olympics. I expect the same over the next few months. Can you give an example? I read a lot of speculation on the internet that there was some conspiracy by the Japanese government to conceal the extent of covid infections prior to the Olympics, but have yet to see any concrete evidence. In fact, I would give Japan pretty high marks for their handling of pandemic thus far. They rank 140 in world currently in deaths per 1M population [1] (meaning 139 countries have suffered more deaths), despite taking a fairly soft stance toward lock downs. And in my opinion the government has done a good job delivering clear and consistent messaging about the number of new infections, what actions they are taking to prevent the spread of the virus, what types of things residents should avoid doing, etc. [2] [1] https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/ https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/ [2] NHK Covid page (in Japanese, but translates reasonably well in Chrome) https://www3.nhk.or.jp/news/special/coronavirus/ https://www3.nhk.or.jp/news/special/coronavirus/

presentation 6y ago
Living here I find their messaging contradictory and confusing. You should social distance—but we'll give you discounts on eating out, the more people the bigger the discount (Go To Eat Campaign)! But actually you should stay home... but hey if you travel around the country we'll give you steep discounts on your hotels and local expenses (Go To Travel Campaign)!! Coupled with the articles earlier on in the pandemic talking about doctors being unable to give their patients COVID tests (which may have had more to do with limited supplies or the lack of treatment capability, to be fair) [1][2][3]; as well as the pretty high cost of getting a negative PCR test result here (I got a test, tested positive (minor case), and it was covered by national insurance for around $15; but my friends who tested negative after coming in contact with me, paid about $300 each for their tests) leads me to think the published numbers are probably pretty inaccurate. I'm not really complaining as society seems to be functioning fine, but if the numbers were worse I would be. [1] http://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/13188937 http://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/13188937 [2] https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2020/05/07/national/testing-corpses-coronavirus/ https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2020/05/07/national/testin... [3] https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-japan-testing/japan-uses-just-a-fraction-of-its-coronavirus-testing-capacity-idUSKBN2150ZR https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-japan-...