# 須田慎一郎「政治家本人による報道の否定、相次ぐ！その背景は？」10月22日 - Show: 上泉雄一のええなぁ！ - Published: 2026-10-21 - Canonical: https://podc.club/en/episode/1588682529_cf5e1c6b3ba6.html - Audio: https://traffic.megaphone.fm/MBSINC3525301428.mp3 - Source: Edited from a machine transcript of the first 30 minutes of the episode. Not an official summary. For a full week, Japan's Minister for Economic and Fiscal Policy repeatedly denied a Mainichi Shimbun report claiming he had consulted aides about invoking the vote-postponement request right to block a Bank of Japan rate hike — insisting he had never even been contacted for comment. The same week produced denial-of-coverage incidents involving Finance Minister Katayama, Minister Koizumi, and Minister Onodera. Freelance journalist Suda Shinichiro (須田慎一郎) analyzed the media practices driving the pattern and how social media has reshaped the relationship between politicians and news organizations. ## What this episode answers ### How did the cycle of reporting and denial over the vote-postponement request unfold? Mainichi Shimbun digital reported the story on October 14; the minister denied it fully at the October 16 post-Cabinet press conference and Mainichi covered that denial, but on October 17 the paper reprinted the same story on its front page, producing an unusual cycle of denial and re-reporting. ### What does the minister himself say about whether the reporter ever contacted him directly? In a phone interview with Suda, the minister stated he had "absolutely never made such a statement" and emphasized that across all three rounds of coverage — October 14, 16, and 17 — he had no memory of being contacted directly by the reporter responsible for the story. ### What other cases of politicians denying press coverage occurred during the same period? Finance Minister Katayama denied a report that China had sharply criticized Japan's long-term interest rates at the G20; Minister Koizumi denied a television report that he had requested the Defence portfolio in a new-cabinet questionnaire; Minister Onodera stated on his own X account that upper-house members were not eligible for the questionnaire at all, prompting a correction broadcast by Nippon Television. ### What factors are cited behind the trend of news outlets skipping verification with the people directly involved? Post-Cabinet press conferences are held every Tuesday and Friday and are open to freelancers who submit questions in advance, yet outlets are bypassing direct verification and failing to include a subject's denial in their copy; the erosion of everyday contact and trust between reporters and politicians has also been cited. ### How has the spread of social media changed the relationship between politicians and the press? Before social media, politicians had little recourse against inaccurate reporting, but they can now push back immediately on X; a politician Suda interviewed ten years ago recalled that eighty percent of the coverage he received was wrong but there was no way to correct it, and Suda views the shift as creating healthy pressure on newsrooms. ## Article ## Mainichi Shimbun vs. the Minister for Economic and Fiscal Policy — a week of denial and re-reporting On October 14, Mainichi Shimbun's digital edition reported that the Minister for Economic and Fiscal Policy had consulted aides about invoking the vote-postponement request right (議決延期請求権) in order to block a rate-hike resolution at the Bank of Japan's Policy Board meeting. The report suggested the minister had concluded that a BOJ rate hike could undermine the administration's expansionary fiscal policy. At the post-Cabinet press conference on Friday, October 16, a reporter from a rival outlet asked whether the story was accurate. The minister denied it in full, stating categorically that he had "never considered invoking the vote-postponement request right to stop a rate hike." Mainichi covered the denial in its digital edition the same day, and the episode appeared to have run its course. Then, on Saturday October 17, Mainichi ran the same story as the lead item on its front page. The unusual spectacle of denial followed by re-reporting continued, causing confusion among those involved. ## Suda Shinichiro's direct phone interview — "I have no memory of being contacted" On the evening of Sunday, October 18, Suda Shinichiro reached the minister by phone. The minister's position was unwavering: "What I said has not changed. I absolutely never made such a statement." More striking was his claim that across all three rounds of reporting — October 14, 16, and 17 — he had no recollection of being contacted directly by the reporter responsible for the story. "I am not saying don't write the article," the minister told Suda. "But surely there should be an interview. Surely the results of an interview should be reflected in the article." At the following Tuesday's post-Cabinet press conference, the reporter in question did not appear — an absence that some outlets described as "going into hiding." The minister again opened the conference by denying the reported content. The minister's indication that he might attend the BOJ's Policy Board meeting had also been reported in a tone implying he was "applying pressure." Suda pushed back on that framing: observer attendance at Policy Board meetings is a standard part of the minister's responsibilities, and previous ministers had routinely skipped them for scheduling reasons, making attendance the orthodox course of action rather than the exception. ## A cascade of denials — Finance Minister Katayama, Minister Koizumi, Minister Onodera The same period produced a string of denial-of-coverage incidents involving other Cabinet members. Reports from the G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors Meeting claimed Finance Minister Katayama (片山財務大臣) had been sharply criticized by China over rising long-term interest rates; Katayama denied this at his press conference. On a new-cabinet questionnaire, television reported that Minister Koizumi (小泉大臣) had expressed a preference for the Defence portfolio — which Koizumi denied. Minister Onodera (小野寺大臣), a member of the House of Councillors, posted on his own X account that members of the upper house were not eligible to complete the questionnaire in the first place and therefore had no response to give, directly correcting the reporting. Nippon Television (日本テレビ) subsequently issued a correction broadcast on the matter. ## The erosion of basic verification — "Journalism 101" isn't being done Suda traces these incidents to a deterioration in fundamental reporting practice. Post-Cabinet press conferences are held every Tuesday and Friday; reporters from the press club as well as freelancers who submit questions in advance are in principle allowed to attend. "It would take only a quick check to clear this up — so why isn't it being done?" he asked. The basic practice of interviewing the subject and including their denial if they deny it is not being followed. Suda also pointed to a structural cause: the everyday contact and trust between reporters and politicians has thinned, making candid off-the-record exchanges increasingly rare. ## The social-media shift — politicians can now correct the record instantly Social media has brought the situation to a new inflection point. A politician named Miyazaki Kensuke (宮崎健介), whom Suda interviewed ten years ago, recalled that roughly eighty percent of the coverage he received at the time was inaccurate — but without social media, there was no way to push back. Today politicians can publish rebuttals and corrections on X almost in real time. Suda views this shift positively, as a force that keeps newsrooms accountable. "That is precisely why it matters whether journalism is built on thorough reporting," he concluded. "Where corrections are needed, they should be made swiftly — as Nippon Television did." ## Takeaways - The Minister for Economic and Fiscal Policy denied a Mainichi Shimbun report on all three occasions it was published, claiming the reporter never contacted him directly — an unusual standoff that played out over a full week. - Despite post-Cabinet press conferences open even to freelancers, multiple outlets bypassed direct verification with their subjects, failing what Suda called the most basic standard of journalism. - Social media now gives politicians an immediate channel to correct inaccurate coverage, raising the bar for newsrooms to report accurately and issue corrections without delay.