Japan’s largest newspaper, Yomiuri Shimbun, issued a rare front-page correction and personal apology on Tuesday after wrongly reporting that a lawmaker from the Japan Innovation Party was under investigation by prosecutors.
The morning edition of Aug. 27 alleged that Rep. Taku Ikeshita’s two publicly funded secretaries were paid despite not working, and that Tokyo prosecutors were looking into whether the lawmaker knew. Ikeshita immediately rejected the story as baseless.
By the afternoon, senior Yomiuri editors visited his Osaka office to apologize, admitting the report was false. The paper later clarified that prosecutors’ inquiry actually concerned another politician, upper house member Akira Ishii.
Yomiuri said it would run a correction on its front page the following day. During the apology, editors further embarrassed themselves by mispronouncing Ikeshita’s name as “Takeshita,” the lawmaker noted.
Ikeshita called the episode “deeply regrettable” and warned he may pursue legal action if the newspaper fails to respond appropriately.
by MagazineKey4532