Don�ft be Arrogant, Journalists!

     An incredible incident happened in Amman International Airport in the
Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan on May 2 (May 1 in local time), 2003. An
object like a hanging bell exploded there, and one guard was killed and three
people injured. Yet what was more incredible was the cause of the incident.
In fact, the object that a Japanese journalist brought in the airport as one of
his souvenirs seemed to have been a hand grenade.  It seemed he had not
known that the object was a hand grenade, and that he was convinced it
would never explode. As proof of it, he played catch with his Jordanian
assistant using the small bomb. Besides, the fact that has made people much
more astonished was found out. Namely, Mr. Hiroki Gomi, who caused such
an appalling incident, was a journalist belonging to the photo department of
the Mainichi. He was a staff of a Japanese top-ranking newspaper company,
so the incident caused by him was shocking not only to the mass media but
also to Japanese people.
     A letter written by Hiroki Gomi on May 5 was made public on the Internet
by Mainichi Shimbun Co., Ltd. on May 13. In the letter his true feelings for the
incident were laid bare. However, its outline, although a bit of self-examination
was found, was just his gratitude to his company and self-justification,.
According to the letter, he did not think of victims killed or injured by his rash
act. He expressed thanks for his company and defended himself throughout the
letter. His letter showed that Mr. Gomi had not thought about the victims from
the bottom of his heart, for he said he could not believe that an object like a
hanging bell had killed or injured four people. Although it was the first time that
Mr. Gomi had reported on a war, he is not a tourist but a journalist. A journalist
should have a sense of ethics about his job . Even if this incident was caused by
Mr. Gomi�fs simple careless mistake, the fact that he killed a man and injured
three men does not disappear. What does Gomi think about his serious
responsibility?
     Furthermore, the attitude of Mainichi Shimbun Co., Ltd. is also lukewarm.
It has been reporting that Mr. Gomi will be released in the near future, because
the family of the victims has forgiven him admitting his act as a simple mistake.
Moreover, some Japanese people expect that it will not become so serious on
account of the friendship between Jordan and Japan. The company of the
Mainichi has stressed Gomi�fs self-examination and innocent mistake in a
favorable way. It seems to have apologized by saying that his act was incredible.
Hence Mainichi Shimbun Co., Ltd. appears to have avoided its responsibility.
     In conclusion, Mr. Gomi�fs irresponsible act may have shown arrogance of the
Japanese press and its lack of crisis management. It is out of the question that Mr.
Gomi tried to bring a bomb back from a battlefield. It is terrible that the journalist
played with the bomb like a child. He was not in contact with Iraqi people with
awe. He did not sympathize with victims of the war in Iraq, either. His act may
have represented an attitude of the Japanese mass media. Mr. Gomi�fs incident
seems to have shown that he went to war-torn Iraq with a superiority complex
and with an onlookers�f mood. For this reason, the following warning will be
applied to the Japanese mass media: Don�ft be arrogant, journalists!

Copyrihght (C) 2003 by Edmond Beard