11 years after the Great East Japan Earthquake ... "Raw Voice" at the TV news site that is struggling#keep knowing

Voices of ``honest TV workers'' who continue to go to the site

Any TV worker who has seen the site of a major disaster once said, ``I will continue to report on this site for the rest of my life. I swear. However, most of them forget their thoughts as they are swept up in a series of different news stories.

However, there are also many TV people who do not forget such a vow and continue to go to the scene.

It will soon be 11 years since the Great East Japan Earthquake. I know many TV people who continue to carry out their "vows" faithfully even now. We asked these honest TV men about their current thoughts. What are the current “feelings and conflicts regarding 311 in the field of television reporting”? I want you to hear their voices.

Roughly summarizing, the voices of these "honest TV men" reveal the conflict between "the TV men who want to keep telling the story, and the upper management who don't want to go to the site". I think you will see ``11 years since the earthquake'' may be just the length of time that creates such a ``difference in enthusiasm among the TV crews within the station.''

The magnitude of the impact of the corona crisis

I want to go to the site of the Great East Japan Earthquake, but I can't because of the new coronavirus. Such voices were heard from many TV people.

"I've been going to see victims and interview victims every year, but now it's difficult to get permission to cross the border due to the coronavirus, and I'm not allowed to go there.

There are phone calls and SNS, but it's still important to convey what you see and feel with your own skin, so right now I'm feeling itchy." (Announcer, Tokyo Key Station) The time when we had to prepare and cover the special program coincided with the 6th wave by Omicron stock. It seems that the scale of coverage has been reduced inevitably this year. However, there are some remarks about this.

"After 11 years, I'm sure this year will be around March 11th, but I think the reality is that we rarely deal with the Great East Japan Earthquake other than that. Some people cite the impact of the coronavirus as a reason.

It is true that due to the spread of COVID-19, it has become difficult to go to the site due to the “self-restraint of coverage”. It's true that it's hard to connect to broadcasts without being able to go to the site.However, in the past two years, various new interviews and broadcast methods have been created, such as Zoom interviews and remote interviews.

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As long as it's a private company, I think it's important to be profitable and profitable, but the program and the company don't support me much. (Tokyo key station photographer)

"Earthquake coverage that can't get viewer ratings" being treated coldly

Like this photographer, "Recently, the company It seems that there are many TV people who feel that it is cold to report on the Great East Japan Earthquake.

"The issue of 'audience ratings' also weighs heavily on us. In the past, some program producers have reduced the content for the reason that 'we can't get the numbers.' Even if I understand, I feel that there is a gap between the thoughts at the field level and the sense at the management level.

Also, when thinking about the subject of coverage, the Great East Japan Earthquake The range is too wide, so I feel frustrated that I can't cut it even if I want to. Anyway, I think I have no choice but to continue interviewing various people and various sites." (Announcer, Tokyo Key Station)

"I want to forget about the disaster. On the other hand, I want to pass on the lessons learned from the disaster. Those are the words I hear from the victims. It's been 10 years." Even though there are some people who have become able to talk about it, there are fewer and fewer slots to broadcast it on TV. Television can gain trust as a medium by conveying necessary information, but this is what I feel after being involved in television for a long time. , I tell myself that thinking about how to convey it and putting it into practice is where I can show my skills." (Director of a production company in Tokyo)

"10 As the years go by, interest in the Great East Japan Earthquake and the Fukushima nuclear power plant has waned.

While the reality is that viewership ratings cannot be obtained, there is a negative trend of fewer broadcasts and further waning interest.

The interest in 311 itself is waning, but there are many other disasters such as earthquakes, tsunamis, torrential rains, and volcanic eruptions. Do you mean that there is a growing interest in general issues?We have been conducting earthquake and tsunami drills for a long time.More recently, announcers from six stations in Tokyo, including NHK, have gathered online to discuss disaster mitigation. Study sessions are also being held." (Announcer, Tokyo Key Station)

"Nuclear power plant stories are almost non-existent now. It's not impossible with the approach..." (BS station director)

Currently, the financial situation of TV stations is extremely difficult. The truth is that each station wants to spend as much of its program production budget as possible on dramas and variety shows during primetime. News programs are under tremendous pressure to cut budgets. I once heard an executive of a commercial broadcaster who was the same age as me say, ``At the moment, it's just barely enough to maintain news programs. .

However, it is very disappointing that the coverage of motivated TV people is hindered by the wall of "I can't get the audience rating". Moreover, I hope that the great people of the TV station will take this point and improve it, as almost all the TV people who responded this time have pointed out that point.

Is it really good to report only ``311''? I suspect that the root of this problem is the same as the problem that "around 311, all stations will start broadcasting about the Great East Japan Earthquake at the same time."

Every year around March 11th, each station broadcasts a special program for the Great East Japan Earthquake, and this year is no exception. However, as the voice introduced at the beginning said, ``This year will probably be reported around March 11, but the reality is that there is almost no coverage of the Great East Japan Earthquake other than that.'' And I don't pick it up at all in the other seasons." There are voices of doubts from TV people about "the way of 311 special program".

“Some of the people I meet in the field say, ``There are things I want to forget,'' but the reports coming out of Tokyo always say, ``Don't forget.'' Whose standpoint is this? I don't know if it's a solid report.And when it comes to 311, there are many special features that only play sad stories with sad music, but I think it's better to stop doing that.

It is not the case that the deceased will come back just because they went to the scene with a camera. It makes me think about the significance of turning the camera.I remember the words of the disaster victims who said, ``In the end, we are nothing more than the material for the TV station's VTR.''

If you don't think carefully about who and what you're interviewing for, there's no point in interviewing." (Tokyo production company photographer)

"For whom is the interview I think that the question "Is it true?" actually hits the essence of the disaster coverage on television. Once, when I went to the site to cover the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake, I had a fight with the program desk, who was trying to put together a special feature with the content, "If this big earthquake had happened in Tokyo." When my boss in Tokyo told me, ``Even if you talk about Kobe locals too much, the viewers in Tokyo won't understand anything. despised the

Will you broadcast the current situation of the disaster area from the perspective of the people in the disaster area? Or will people outside the disaster area broadcast the disaster area "to learn lessons"? To put it bluntly, the current situation in the disaster area is, in a sense, "other people's affairs" for people outside the disaster area. Those of us involved in television reporting must continue to think about what kind of perspective to report there. A young reporter from a broadcasting station in the disaster area wrote the following.

"When we joined the company after the earthquake, we were told by seniors that 'people outside the disaster area call it a turning point, but there is no turning point for the disaster victims. It's just an extension of the post-earthquake line.'

There was an event that changed that. It's day. I was covering a memorial service in a city. It was heartbreaking to think that all the hundreds of people attending had suddenly lost someone dear to them. After the ceremony was over, when I was interviewing people leaving the venue, I saw a woman wiping her tears with a towel.

When I called out to him, he spoke steadily. It was a woman who was swallowed by the tsunami with her husband, who was evacuating with her, and had let go of her hand.

"I haven't been able to cry once in 10 years, but for the first time, I cried." It's been 10 years.

I used to think that a milestone meant a break. But a milestone is a unique opportunity for the survivors to look back on the days they've worked so hard.

In the prefecture, news about the disaster area is still broadcast almost every day. There is also a program that is less than 10 minutes long once a week. It would be quite difficult to deliver a tactile voice to people all over the country far away from the disaster area.

However, because it is a milestone, I hope that it will be a day to think about the long road that the victims have walked behind the scenes. I really hope that such reports will be reported by key stations as well." I think that. And I can't even imagine what the earthquake disaster report on television should be like.

However, I am convinced that the most important thing for disaster reporting on TV is for TV crews to continue to go to the scene and keep worrying about it.

[This article was jointly planned by the personal editorial department and the author, and was written by the author.]