A public betrayed

About this book

Exposes deceptions, lies, and abuses of power in Japan that have led to such profound degrees of misunderstanding, confusion, and suffering that they have inspired the phrase "media atrocities." Key examples include: vilifying innocent victims of terrorist attacks; denying the Holocaust and supporting anti-Semitism; smearing a prominent Buddhist leader; whitewashing and denying one of history's worst war crimes, the Nanjing Massacre; and defaming Second World War Japanese military sex slaves or "comfort women." This book lays bare the mechanisms and motivations behind these sobering abuses. And, as the examples show, the very factors that have contributed to such injustices in Japan have become increasingly predominant in the news-media sectors of the West--factors such as extreme industry consolidation, the growth of nationalism, intense commercialism, and the erosion of media ethics. The lessons for the rest of the free world could be neither more profound nor more relevant.--From publisher description.