Stars and Stripes is kept busy enough assuring its reporters' access to military bases, and the flow of newsworthy information therefrom, without arguing on behalf of a Japanese newspaper with the same objectives.

But I will do that, at least in part. A Stripes article from Misawa Air Base in Japan said the Too Nippo, a Japanese language newspaper, was appealing a ban issued by the base last December on two of its reporters.

One was accused of violating ground rules by taking photos of "sensitive" material on base. Base officials said the other reporter broke a ground rule by having recording devices at a "secure location" that houses a new missile tracking system. OPSEC is serious business, and if the command believes that it was in some way violated, the action against the reporters would be understandable.

But an additional reason why one of the reporters was banned does give pause. He is accused of breaking ground rules "by engaging the Mayor [of Misawa City] in questions about noise complaints." According to a base spokesman, reporters were told before the event there were to  be no questions about the noise issue. That sounds like an awkward attempt at news management to me. Nothing compelled the mayor to reply to the questions, which did address a topic of interest to both the Japanese and the Americans at Misawa.

The newspaper's letter of protest went to the commander of U.S. Forces Japan and the commander at the air base. Whatever they decide about the alleged security violations, one hopes they make clear that censoring questions of a public official is out of bounds -- no matter what newspaper is being restricted.