Bankisha

Bankisha ( Japanese. 番 記者 ; Eng . "Guardian Reporter") are journalists from Japanese newspapers who have been hired by their publishers to report exclusively on a specific public figure, mostly politicians. It is your job to develop a close personal bond with this politician and thus obtain exclusive or unofficial information. In return, the politician gets some control over what the media reports about him. Too critical reporting would result in the bankisha status of the reporter being lost.

Bankisha are given front row seats at press conferences, and often only their questions are answered. In 1993 Prime Minister Hosokawa Morihiro , the first non- LDP premier in decades, tried to break through the Bankisha system and select the journalists himself whose questions he answered. Among other things, he was the first to allow questions from foreign reporters. The rigid system was loosened, but ultimately remained intact.

Although press censorship in Japan was abolished with the American occupation and the new constitution in 1945, the Bankisha system has resulted in the Japanese press not always reporting completely independently. Many scandals were only uncovered through intensive research by committed reporters from small newspapers, until the big ones could no longer ignore the news.

In the US there is a similar system of journalists reporting directly from the White House.