Media discouraged from reporting on tsunami, earthquake fallout, says CPJ
20 April 2011 Media discouraged from reporting on tsunami, earthquake fallout, says CPJ Hiro Ugaya in tsunami-destroyed Noda Mura village, which received scant media attention Freelancers in Japan says they and foreign and online media have been actively excluded from reporting on the nuclear threat and other calamities resulting from the earthquake and tsunami, reports the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ). Last week, the Japanese government upped the danger rating for the disaster at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power station to its highest level. According to CPJ, it is not clear if the government or Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO), which runs the plant, withheld the extent of the risk. "The local media's habitual allegiance to officials who arrange press conferences and companies that buy advertising makes it hard to tell, and freelancers who are eager to probe deeper say their questions have been suppressed," said CPJ. Take author and freelancer Takashi Ue