Investigation of problems with English site (3)

External warnings were ignored

"I checked the Web site from time to time, but the staff writer was in effect given a free hand. I should have kept an eye on his choice of articles." So reflects Hiroshi Takahashi, managing editor of the Mainichi Daily News since April 2006 (now temporarily stripped of his title).

Before assuming his post as managing editor, Takahashi asked a former MDN staff writer about the section. She said: "The content of the WaiWai column needs to be reviewed. It would be better to incorporate a greater awareness of social issues."

Lack of female perspective

Said the former female staff writer: "An American I once interviewed told me, 'I just saw this terrible article. Is the Mainichi Newspapers involved in this?' I thought it was a very serious matter that could compromise the credibility of the paper."

After assuming his post, Takahashi perused the WaiWai column and found it vulgar and overly focused on sex. He soon spoke to the staff writer in charge and listed up some of the magazines with extremely ribald content and gave him a strong verbal warning against using smutty articles. He also admonished the writer two or three times to ease up on the sex-related articles, but did not check the Web site to see if it had improved.

In a final analysis, warning signs from within the section were not met with any seriousness and did not lead to any changes.

Critical opinions about the problems of WaiWai also came from outside.

Last October, a Japanese woman living in the United States and working at a university there sent an e-mail message to the Digital Media Division, criticizing the content of WaiWai. She said that one of the articles, in particular, should not have been posted, even with the disclaimer that the MDN could not vouch for its accuracy. The reasons she gave were: the story could not logically have been true, and it was misleading to people who have little understanding of Japanese culture.

The staff writer in question also saw this e-mail, but made no specific response. "I wanted to reply, but it needed some consideration. I was bogged down by work and just couldn't get around to it," he explains.
In March, an e-mail in Japanese was sent from a person living in Japan, indicating similar doubts about the propriety of the content of WaiWai, but this too went unheeded.

The content of these two e-mail messages were relayed by e-mail not only to staff writers, but to other members of the Digital Media Division, including those in supervisory positions such as the General Manager, the Deputy General Manager and the managing editor.

Both Atsushi Hasegawa, Director and Digital Media Division Executive Supervisor, and Takahashi say they did not notice the e-mail message at all. Takahashi admits, "That was my biggest mistake. I regret very much that I did not respond properly to those messages."

Digital Media Division General Manager Akihiko Isono (presently stripped of this position), then Deputy General Manager of the same division, says "I checked my computer and found that I had opened the e-mail received in March. The importance of that negative piece of information seems to have slipped my notice. You have no idea how sorry I am for that mistake."