a major role in exposing political scandals, some critics have accused the large newspapers, ostensibly oppositionist, of being little more than a conduit of government ideas to the people. Free-lance reporters, working outside the press club system, often made the real breakthroughs in investigative reporting. For example, a free-lance journalist published the first public accounts of Tanaka Kakuei's personal finances in a monthly magazine in 1974, even though the established press had access to this information. See also Japanese media Politics of Japan Radio Japan References - Japan External links Media Intimidation in Japan, discussion paper by David McNeill in the electronic journal of contemporary japanese studies, 27 March 2001. Mass media in Japan Politics of Japan