Furthermore, conservative Yomiuri Shimbun and Sankei Shimbun dailies also reported somewhat critically on Saturday that reporters from the rival liberal daily Asahi Shimbun had entered Syria, despite government warnings not to do so.
Toyoda, however, defended the Asahi’s decision to send reporters into Syria.
“All journalists, including those from major news organizations in Japan, should decide themselves whether or not to enter conflict zones,” he said.
Nishimae agreed: “Just because the government said no doesn’t mean that you should abandon your conviction as a journalist.”
Junpei Yasuda, another freelance war reporter who was a close friend of Goto’s, said that journalism would die if they stopped making their own judgment calls.