Altered photo does not show Japanese news anchor smiling while reporting Shinzo Abe’s death

 

Screenshot of the Facebook post. 

(*Click to view larger image)

 

The Claim and Our Verdict 

• The claim: A photo circulating online appears to show a news anchor grinning while reporting the death of Japan’s former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. The caption of the post, written in simplified Chinese, translates as: “Shinzo Abe assassinated… How can Japanese people laugh that much!” 
• Fact–checking: The photo actually shows a news anchor of Japan’s Fuji Television Network (Fuji TV), Daijiro Enami, appearing on air in the “Live News It!” program. After reviewing the entire original news clip, it is confirmed that Enami looked serious and did not smile at any point in the report. Fuji TV told the fact-checking organization China Fact Check that the anchor did not laugh while reporting the news. Apparently, the photo circulating online has been digitally altered and is not a real screenshot captured from the original news segment. 
• Our verdict: This photo has been digitally altered. It does not show the Japanese news anchor smiling while reporting Shinzo Abe’s death. 

News Brief 

A photo shared July 9, 2022, on Facebook, claims to show a news anchor grinning while reporting the death of Japan’s former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. The caption of the post, written in simplified Chinese, translates as: “Shinzo Abe has been assassinated. Those who say that Chinese netizens gloat over his death, please look at this photo carefully. Japanese people can laugh that much. Why can’t we Chinese laugh?”  

According to Japanese broadcaster NHK, Japan’s former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was shot while giving a speech on the street of Nara City, Nara Prefecture on July 8, 2022. He was sent to a hospital for rescue and died in a hospital in Kashihara City, Nara Prefecture, at the age of 67. 

As of the publication of this report, the Facebook post had been shared 58 times, and had received 47 comments and 299 likes or reactions. Similar posts have been circulating on Twitter and Weibo. 

Fact-checking

A reverse image search was conducted. A video published July 8, 2022 by the digital news media outlet FNN Prime Online under Fuji TV, with Japanese-language subtitles and background identical to those in the Facebook photo, was found. However, in the entire video of the news report, the anchor looks serious without a smile or a grin on his face. 

Screenshot comparison of the YouTube video (left) and the Facebook photo (right). 

(*Click to view larger image)

After searching the official website of Fuji TV, a news program called “Live News It!” (ライブニュースイット) was found. After comparison, the Facebook photo shows the scene of the news program. It is also found that in the introduction page of the program hosts, there is a male anchor called Daijiro Enami who looks alike to the host of the news program. 

Screenshot of the official website of the TV program “Live News It!” 

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A tweet published July 8, 2022 by “Live News It!” announced the program’s upcoming news report on Abe’s assassination, with the name of Daijiro Enami as one of the hashtags. Therefore, it is confirmed that the anchor hosting the news program was Daijiro Enami. 

Screenshot of the tweet published by “Live News It!” 

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After comparing the photos of Enami posted by himself and by the TV program with the Facebook photo, his teeth seem to be very neat when he is grinning in the Facebook photo, while they look different in the photos posted by the TV program and himself. 

Comparison of the photos posted by Enami and the TV program (top left and top right) and the Facebook photo (bottom). 

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FaceApp, a photo editing app, was used to edit the screen capture of the news anchor in the original video. The image edited by FaceApp and the Facebook photo look very similar. Therefore, the Facebook photo has been digitally altered and is not a real screen capture from the original news report. 

Comparison of the image edited by FaceApp (left) and the Facebook photo (right). 

(*Click to view larger image)

Fuji TV told the fact-checking organization China Fact Check that Enami did not laugh while reporting Abe’s death.