Japan's newspapers resemble the old Pravda

[Taro Toporific]

Japan Weeklies Go After Major Newspapers

Corporate slush funds. Managers making sexual advances on female employees. A company president resigning amid rumors of illegal business activities and an extramarital affair. Japan's weekly tabloids have never shied from chronicling corporate corruption, scandal and misdeeds--however speculative. But the targets these days aren't just run-of-the-mill companies: They are Japan's national newspapers.

The scrutiny has focused on Yomiuri, Asahi and Nihon Keizai _ three of the country's largest newspapers

'All of the newspapers print the same stories. Their news is so similar that we've been told that if independent weeklies like ours weren't around, Japan's newspapers would resemble Pravda''
- - - AP-NYC 02-18-03 06:09 EST