article_snippet.sent: Even the conservative Yomiuri newspaper urged Abe to do so.
article_snippet.sent: This too is welcome news because over the past year Abe has presided over an orchestrated attack on the Asahi newspaper for the Asahi newspaper coverage of the comfort women system, packed NHK's management with like-minded reactionaries and pressured critics out of like-minded reactionaries jobs.
article_snippet.sent: Indeed the New York Times ran an article on April 26 implicating Abe in the axing of a prominent TV pundit who made the mistake of criticizing Abe.
article_snippet.sent: The foreign press has also exposed Japanese government harassment targeting Japanese government harassment reporting, especially regarding the whitewashing of history, and attempts to smear the integrity of those who wouldn't go along.
article_snippet.sent: In addition, journalists were told not to interview certain Abe critics.
article_snippet.sent: Journalists acknowledge this is what government spin doctors normally do and have done in Japan for some time, but under Abe the rules of engagement appear to be nastier.