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2010/03/26
Hatoyama holds first Prime Minister’s press conference open to all media
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On March 26, Yukio Hatoyama held the first prime minister’s press conference to be open to members of the media other than those registered with the press club. Apart from press club members, the press conference was attended by approximately 40 reporters from other media, including the overseas media.
Referring to this issue, Hatoyama said that the press conferences themselves had not been sufficiently open, and stated, “I would like you to understand that this is only the first step.” He added, “I thought that opening up my press conferences rather than the informal press briefings (burasagari) would be the way to make things open to the public.” Hatoyama went on to say that he was considering increasing the frequency of press conferences and of opening them up further.
Furthermore, in response to a reporter’s question, Hatoyama said that he would like to hold discussions with the press club so that he would be able to organise press conferences himself separate from those organized by the press club. In addition, with regard to the press conferences held by other ministers, he expressed the opinion that he would like them to understand that he had opened up his press conference, and that he would like the Hatoyama Cabinet to be as open as possible in this respect.
In response to a comment from another reporter that although the Prime Minister’s website does not disclose the names of those reporters who question the Prime Minister in its transcript of the press conference, since reporters give their names at the actual event, names should be made public, Hatoyama said, “I will look into this matter. My opinion is that basically [names] should be disclosed.”
Freelance journalist Takashi Uesugi said, “This is a memorable day. We have been kept waiting for quite some time, but I would like to pay my respects to you for keeping your promise to make the press conferences open. On behalf of journalists all around the world, I would like to thank all those who contributed to this effort.”
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