Religious minority victim of media witch hunt where broadcast standards suffer gross violations
Tokyo, 4th September 2024 – Published as the 25th article in a series in the Japanese newspaper Sekai Nippo. Republished with permission. Translated from Japanese. Original article
Lack of Fairness and Deviation from ‘Broadcast Standards’
by the Religious Freedom Investigative Team of the editorial department of Sekai Nippo
Prepared by Knut Holdhus
The Japan Commercial Broadcasters Association (JBA – 日本民間放送連盟), an organization comprising private television and radio companies, has established a common set of rules known as the “Broadcast Standards” to serve as a reference when a company formulates its own “program standards”. These standards aim to prevent viewers and listeners from being hurt or offended by broadcasts.
The standards define “responsible reporting” as follows: “When conducting interviews and editing, care must be taken to avoid bias that could mislead viewers.”
In the section on “religion”, the standards state, “When dealing with matters related to religious doctrines or rituals, care must be taken not to damage the dignity of that religion. Special caution is required when using such matters without direct connection to religion.“
On 27th August 2022, TBS (Tokyo Broadcasting System), a member of the JBA, aired an episode of its program “News Feature” (Hodo Tokushu) that included interviews with five former members of the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification (formerly the Unification Church), who had participated in its mass wedding ceremony around 30 years ago but later left the organization and divorced.
These women, who had married South Korean men, spoke in front of the camera about their harsh experiences, such as having to live in poverty in rural farming villages and suffering from their husbands’ violence. Their stories appeared sincere and evoked sympathy from viewers.
When investigating issues with religious organizations, it is natural to hear from former members. If there are unreasonable matters, informing viewers about them is meaningful. However, caution is necessary.
People have faith because they find salvation and peace of mind in the teachings of a religious organization. However, if they leave, it is not uncommon for former members to exaggerate the negative aspects they experienced during their time as believers in order to denounce the organization. It is important to keep this in mind when listening to the stories of former members, especially those who actively oppose the organization.
Moreover, according to Toru Goto (後藤徹), a current member of the Family Federation and representative of the “National Association of Victims of Abduction, Confinement, and Forced Conversion”, one of the five women who appeared on the program was his sister-in-law, who was involved in confining him for 12 years and 5 months to force him to renounce his faith. Because of this, Goto sent a letter of protest to TBS, accusing them of featuring someone who committed “severe human rights violations” and allowing her to make one-sided criticisms.
However, one of the program’s hosts, Takako Zenba (膳場貴子), based on the former members’ stories, criticized the Mass Marriage Blessing ceremony, saying, “The organization uses cult-like thought processes to make believers not feel the hardship, and then exposes them to physical and mental risks by marrying them to strangers,” invoking the so-called “mind control” theory. She went further to condemn the ceremony, stating, “I believe the Mass Marriage Blessing ceremony is the ultimate form of human rights violations by this organization.”
According to the website of the Family Federation, the Marriage Blessing Ceremony is a “wedding ceremony centered on God, where men and women from around the world come together to establish families centered on God, transcending barriers of religion, denomination, ideology, race, and nationality.”
There are reportedly thousands of Japanese women in Korea who, like the former members interviewed, participated in this religious ceremony and built families with Korean men. The program mentioned this fact. However, from the perspective of neutrality and fairness, it should have also introduced believers who have built happy families. According to the Family Federation‘s Public Relations Department, there was no inquiry from “News Feature” (Hodo Tokushu) regarding the Marriage Blessing Ceremony.
Many families established by believers who participated in the Marriage Blessing Ceremony exist in Japan as well. Zenba’s comments not only violate the Broadcast Standards, which caution against damaging the dignity of religious rituals. Her words also hurt the feelings of the participants in the Blessing Ceremony and the children born into those families. Criticizing human rights violations by the religious organization while simultaneously violating the human rights of its believers is a double standard and can be considered a representative example of biased reporting on the Family Federation.
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Featured image above: TBS Holdings HQ.