{"id":4385,"date":"2009-09-14T00:21:16","date_gmt":"2009-09-13T15:21:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.debito.org\/?p=4385"},"modified":"2009-09-14T09:14:35","modified_gmt":"2009-09-14T00:14:35","slug":"american-journo-banned-from-japanese-only-toyota-press-conference-in-america","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/?p=4385","title":{"rendered":"American journo banned from “Japanese Only” Toyota press conference — in America!"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Handbook<\/a>\"\\\"<\/a>\"Foreign<\/a>\"\\\"<\/a>\"\u300c\u30b8\u30e3\u30d1\u30cb\u30fc\u30ba\u30fb\u30aa\u30f3\u30ea\u30fc\u3000\u5c0f\u6a3d\u5165\u6d74\u62d2\u5426\u554f\u984c\u3068\u4eba\u7a2e\u5dee\u5225\u300d\uff08\u660e\u77f3\u66f8\u5e97\uff09\"<\/a>\"JAPANESE<\/a>\"sourstrawberriesavatar\"<\/a>UPDATES ON TWITTER: arudoudebito<\/p>\n

Hi Blog. \u00a0Here’s something discussed in Ivan Hall’s seminal CARTELS OF THE MIND<\/a> and other sources, such as Laurie Freeman’s JPRI article on Japan’s Press Clubs<\/a> (kisha kurabu<\/em>, i.e. media cartels). \u00a0It hasn’t changed since the publication of these works. \u00a0Problem is, the case discussed below isn’t a Japan Press Club. \u00a0It’s a Japanese company denying access to local-area journalists IN AMERICA, despite both local ethics and corporate promises to the contrary. \u00a0In other words, it’s Japan’s Press Clubs exported. \u00a0Read on. \u00a0Arudou Debito in Tokyo<\/p>\n

=====================================<\/p>\n

Toyota stops American from attending exec\u2019s press conference in America<\/h2>\n
Former FCCJ President Jim Treece gets the cold shoulder from the PR department of Japan\u2019s automotive giant.<\/strong><\/div>\n
http:\/\/www.fccj.or.jp\/node\/4896<\/a><\/div>\n
by Jim Treece, courtesy of JCH.<\/strong><\/div>\n
Foreign Correspondents Club of Japan website, Sept 9, 2009<\/strong><\/div>\n

\n<\/span><\/strong><\/div>\n
I thought my days of battling kisha clubs were over.<\/strong><\/em><\/div>\n

\nNope. There I was, arguing that I, an American, should be allowed into a Japanese-only press conference. In Traverse City, Michigan, USA.
\n<\/strong><\/em><\/div>\n

\n<\/strong><\/em><\/div>\n
I was being excluded not by a kisha club, but by Toyota Motor\u2019s PR staff.
\n<\/strong><\/em><\/div>\n

\n<\/strong><\/em><\/div>\n
The main speaker at an August automotive conference in Traverse City was Toyota <\/strong><\/em><\/div>\n
President Akio Toyoda. He did not meet the media. Instead, after Toyoda\u2019s speech, Toyota Motor Sales USA boss Jim Lentz held a press briefing.
\n<\/strong><\/em><\/div>\n

\n<\/strong><\/em><\/div>\n
A large number of Japanese reporters showed up in Traverse City. I soon learned\u00a0that Lentz\u2019 boss, Yoshimi Inaba, would give a separate briefing for the Japanese press. I asked to attend, since I speak Japanese. They said no.<\/strong><\/em><\/div>\n

\n<\/strong><\/em><\/div>\n
\u201cThis stinks,\u201d I e-mailed Toyota USA\u2019s top PR man, Irv Miller.<\/strong><\/em><\/div>\n

\n<\/strong><\/em><\/div>\n
\u201cI have attended sessions of the kisha club at the Ministry of Infrastructure, Land and Transportation. I have gone on overseas trips with Japanese media from the Jidosha Kisha Club where all events were conducted solely in Japanese. Why am I being kept out of an event in the United States where the only real restriction should be language, not nationality?\u201d
\n<\/strong><\/em><\/div>\n

\n<\/strong><\/em><\/div>\n
His Blackberry reply: \u201cYou are not barred from Mr. Inaba\u2019s press interview you ARE invited to Mr. Lentz\u2019s press interview.\u201d
\n<\/strong><\/em><\/div>\n

\n<\/strong><\/em><\/div>\n
Well, if I\u2019m not barred, then I might as well walk into the room before it began, I decided. Toyota PR staffers double-teamed me to make sure I didn\u2019t get past the doorway.
\n<\/strong><\/em><\/div>\n

\n<\/strong><\/em><\/div>\n
\u201cYou are not invited. It\u2019s our press conference and we chose to invite only the Japanese media,\u201d lead flack Hashimoto said.
\n<\/strong><\/em><\/div>\n

\n<\/strong><\/em><\/div>\n
Automotive News attended a media roundtable with Inaba in Detroit a week ago, an American staffer added. Yes, I said, but that was a week ago. There has been news since then. I want to hear what Inaba tells the Japanese media. The Q&A will be different from Lentz\u2019s, I said.
\n<\/strong><\/em><\/div>\n

\n<\/strong><\/em><\/div>\n
They kept saying they wanted Japanese media only. \u201cWho is \u2018they?\u2019\u201d I asked. The Toyota PR department, they replied. Who? Finally, Mr. Hashimoto said, \u201cMe.\u201d
\n<\/strong><\/em><\/div>\n

\n<\/strong><\/em><\/div>\n
Why, I asked.
\n<\/strong><\/em><\/div>\n

\n<\/strong><\/em><\/div>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re American media and I\u2019m not in charge of American media,\u201d he said. At the Detroit auto show, he argued, you have German media press conferences where the Swedish or Japanese media are not invited.
\n<\/strong><\/em><\/div>\n

\n<\/strong><\/em><\/div>\n
But those are based on language, I said. I\u2019ve attended Japanese-language press conferences at the Detroit auto show, and at the Tokyo and Bangkok motor shows.
\n<\/strong><\/em><\/div>\n

\n<\/strong><\/em><\/div>\n
There\u2019s not enough room, he said. They had a dozen chairs and a table in a room easily large enough for 40 people. I suggested they could fit in another chair.
\n<\/strong><\/em><\/div>\n

\n<\/strong><\/em><\/div>\n
But if you come in, all the American media will want to attend, he said. No, I said, just say it\u2019s going to be done in Japanese with no translation. Only those who can handle that will come.
\n<\/strong><\/em><\/div>\n

\n<\/strong><\/em><\/div>\n
Hashimoto offered me a deal. He would let me come in, as long as I didn\u2019t tell any other American media that I had attended. That was unacceptable. I would not be able to report anything. Then Miller stepped in.
\n<\/strong><\/em><\/div>\n

\n<\/strong><\/em><\/div>\n
He repeated the we-can\u2019t-let-everyone-in line, then switched to the offensive. \u201cI take exception to the fact that you do not value your invitation to Mr. Lentz\u2019 press\u00a0conference,\u201d he said. Trying not to roll my eyes, I said I did value that invitation. I had assigned another reporter to cover that press conference.<\/strong><\/em><\/div>\n

\n<\/strong><\/em><\/div>\n
He kept me cornered and talking in the hallway. Inaba passed by, and briefly paused and looked at us. I was about to greet him \u2013 I had interviewed him one-on-one two or three times in Japan \u2013 but Hashimoto hurried him along. With him in the room and the door shut, Miller left me for the room where Lentz would speak. Kicking myself for not just sitting in a chair and daring them to throw me out bodily \u2013 hey, it worked at the Prime Minister\u2019s office \u2013 I headed back to the media room and wrote up a straightforward account of Toyoda\u2019s speech.<\/strong><\/em><\/div>\n

\n<\/strong><\/em><\/div>\n
Later, a Japanese reporter came up and asked for clarification about comments Ron Bloom had made. Bloom, head of President Obama\u2019s autos task force, had originally been scheduled to hold a press briefing for a small group of reporters, but as word of the briefing leaked out, it was opened to all reporters at the conference. The Japanese reporters also attended.
\n<\/strong><\/em><\/div>\n

\n<\/strong><\/em><\/div>\n
Toyota\u2019s PR staffers kept me out because they could not think outside of their organization-chart boxes. Hashimoto was Inaba\u2019s handler, so he would only let in the reporters he deals with. Opening the briefing to all Japanese-speaking media would have required a willingness to rethink the way they worked. Akio Toyoda\u2019s speech had urged the auto industry to do just that.
\n<\/strong><\/em><\/div>\n

\n<\/strong><\/em><\/div>\n
Too bad his PR staff wasn\u2019t listening. \u2776<\/strong><\/em><\/div>\n
ENDS<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Here’s something discussed in Ivan Hall’s seminal CARTELS OF THE MIND and other sources, such as Laurie Freeman’s JPRI article on Japan’s Press Clubs (kisha kurabu, i.e. media cartels). It hasn’t changed since the publication of these works. Problem is, the case discussed below isn’t a Japan Press Club. It’s a Japanese company denying access to local-area journalists IN AMERICA, despite both local ethics and corporate promises to the contrary. In other words, it’s Japan’s Press Clubs exported. Read on:<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[43,34,13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4385","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bad-business-practices","category-exclusionism","category-media"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4385","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4385"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4385\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4385"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4385"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4385"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}