Atomic Hysteria

A couple of weeks ago I made a comment about how well NZ TV reporters had done during the Christchurch earthquake. This week however it was back to the normal "never let the facts get in the way of a good story" routine. The ongoing incident at the nuclear power plant at Fukushima is a heaven sent opportunity for journalists and reporters all over the world to crank up the level of sensationalism and for anti nuclear activists to boost their disinformation efforts. From watching the news coverage here it is quite obvious that the western news people do not have the slightest clue about the facts of nuclear materials or radiation. Yesterday a TVNZ news crew "evacuated" Tokyo and drove to Nigata. I don't know what they're going to report on there but they are all feeling much better now. Maybe when they've calmed down a bit they might go and do some research but then, reporting actual facts won't grab any headlines. Last night TV1 wheeled out a Chernobyl "survivor" who proceeded to tell everyone to flee for their lives or else they were going to die horribly. The main news featured a couple of Kiwis who had decided to fly home in fear of radiation. I guess no body told them that in a 11 hour flight from Japan they would receive a dose of radiation far greater than they would have if they just stayed in Tokyo. 

Reporters love the word "meltdown". Its scary and easy enough for the chattering masses to understand. It is an attention getter and the great thing is you don't have to back it up with any evidence or facts. Speculation is the currency of nuclear reporting. It has been interesting how the real stories of the earthquake and tsunami have taken a backseat to the nuclear story.  Nobody seems interested enough to point out that there has been a massive failure of many systems including railways, electricity, transport, telephone, water and aid distribution. That's all to be expected in a 9.0 earthquake and massive tsunami so why is everyone focused on a single power plant? The answer is that to go out and report on these things is difficult, dirty and dangerous. Its much easier and cheaper to speculate on a subject that's mysterious and sensational.

Reading the blogs of foreigners who are actually living there has been very interesting. The vast majority of them are not buying into the hype and are just getting on with life. Some have even put up some facts about radiation and have explained their reasoning behind their decisions. It seems that people who write blogs in Japan are more intelligent and enlightened than all the news reporters in the world, but then, we already knew that. The nuclear plant is a sideshow. It's a horrendous mess for Tokyo Electric but the long term issues from it are insignificant compared to the other aspects of the disaster.

More laughable reporting from the NZ herald this morning which described the town of Minami Sanriku as "a coastal paradise" before the tsunami. I have never been there but if its anything like the rest of the Honshu coast it certainly wouldn't qualify as my idea of paradise.