True objectivity concerning the media is impossible to find, and critics might point to the author's long-term Japan residency as an inherent bias.

Yet Johnston makes an important contribution to a debate that continues to rage, even in apparent bastions of media freedom such as Britain. In contrast, Japanese faith in their media has remained steadfast, with a recent poll showing 80 percent continue to trust newspaper reports.
[link to www.japantimes.co.jp]


- this explains, in part, the complacency of the Japanese. They believe what they read and hear from their media.