Archive for November, 2011

After Fukushima: The Fear Factor (Examining Scaremongering Journalism)

Here is a great work of citizen journalism that really deserves attention (it’s from August, but wasn’t really widely noticed at the time):

The ‘apocalyptic’ media frenzy post Fukushima which displaced the real disaster story and horrific loss of life wrought by the earthquake & tsunami, sickened Japanese born Mari Shibata. Along with WORLDbytes volunteers she investigates the fear factor. Why did a nuclear incident affecting only a small area fuel global meltdown stories? In an interview with the Director of the Science Media Centre we learn of news values shaped by a concern to terrify people, journalists removed from stories for being too measured and scientists accused of lying. Granted unique access to Oldbury, the oldest nuclear power station in the world we learn how seriously safety is taken and due to fears of terrorism post 9/11 its tragic shut down to visitors. Through talking to relatives in Japan we learn of the progress being made to clear up the real mess made by a natural disaster, a story neglected by the Western media.

Todd Kreider at the NBR forums has typed up a transcript of the interview with Fiona Fox of the Science Media Center (starts at 8:55 in the video):

Fox’s job is to have her staff compile a list of top scientists who the BBC and others can interview. She says that she compiled a list for the tsunami and earthquake stories but 24 hours later the only ﾀuestions journalists asked were about the Fukushima reactors.

“It seemed like there was an agenda set by the editors. And later on when I started to reflect on this and talked to journalists off the record and asked ‘Why was there such a massive desire for *that* scare story when you already had a terrible scare story?’ It wasn’t as if we were asking them to cover the good news and not the bad news. There is plenty of bad news. One or two of them were very open with me and said, ‘Fiona, our editors think there is something uniquely terrifying about radiation. There is something unique to that word that has the capacity to terrify people.’ “

“And at that moment you have to pause for a moment and think ‘My goodness, what a strange set of news values: what justifies your – the amount of coverage – is what your editors feels terrifies people.’ There are some more sophisticated explanations for why these news values set in, but I think the one you really have to question is the one that says, ‘Because you couldn’t see it, because it is uniquely terrifying, therefore we felt compelled to cover it.’ And on that, I just beg to differ. I beg to differ that that is morally justifiable as a news value.”

Skipping ahead to about 13:40 in the video:

” what you really, really need at times like this is the *real* experts, the people who really know what they are talking about. And the Science Media Center’s job is to line up people who know about radiation, who know about the effects on humans, the effects on the environment and soils and food, etc. And we lined them all up and without exception there were all giving quite measured…

They said that this is a very, very serious incident but in terms of it being a threat even to people in Tokyo, never mind to people in Glasgow, they were expressing time after time that this threat was very, very, very, very small. And they were all dismayed that the world’s media was focusing on the threat of radiation which they thought was very very small for people outside the exclusion zone…

Fox again from 16:30 adds that many journalists told the Science Media Center that their editors would say, “So what are the apologists (nuclear scientists) saying today?” in response to their daily press conferences. She points out the wide variety of experts were on the list since nuclear includes so many sub areas. Fox adds that no scientist was from the nuclear industry and were scientists writing in top journals.

This is maybe the most damning quote:

Fox:　”The way that this was covered was wrong. I feel confident in saying that because of how many journalists felt uneasy about this. I know of journalists who were taken off this story because what they were writing was too measured and that’s in a really significant, major news room in this country.”

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Will Fukushima Produce Be Exported As Foreign Aid?

Some of the food that the Japanese government sends to poor countries as foreign aid might come from Fukushima prefecture, and anti-nuclear activists are angry about it:

The activists don’t care if the food passes safety inspections. They seem to have already concluded that “Fukushima = “deadly radiation,” so any food from that prefecture is dangerous. One of the women in the video is so scared of radiation that she sent her children away from Tokyo. Forget about whether there is any credible threat to human health: just think about all the children who are in danger!!!!!!!1!!

It is a sad situation for the farmers of Fukushima. They’ve worked so hard to grow their crops, and thankfully, most of the prefecture’s agricultural products have been found to be safe. It was feared that rice would be heavily contaminated, but that a majority of Fukushima rice has passed tests. Despite this, there is still great ignorance and fear about radiation, and an anti-nuclear lobby that is more that happy to spread sensational (and groundless) claims about about the dangers of Fukushima produce. A lot of farmers will be losing money because people wrongly believe that their crops are dangerous.

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• Dannychoo.com – Your portal to Japan (Subscribe)

Dalai Lama Visits Tohoku

The Dalai Lama recently visited areas of Tohoku that had been heavily damaged by the March 11th earthquake and tsunami:

The 76-year-old Tibetan spiritual leader offered words of encouragement to survivors during the service at Saiko Temple in Ishinomaki, Miyagi Prefecture.

With about 1,000 people attending, the Dalai Lama said that as a human being he shares the pain of survivors who lost their loved ones, and that he hopes people will be able to overcome their sorrow and rebuild their lives.

After the visit, the Dalai Lama met reporters in Tokyo. When asked if he opposed nuclear energy, he said that he supported “using nuclear energy for peaceful means as a way to bridge the socioeconomic gap in developing countries in the absence of more efficient alternative energy sources.” He also met with Japanese government officials.

For those who are interested, here is a 16 minute long video from the Dalai Lama’s YouTube channel, which features his speech in English:

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Chinese Fishing Boat Captain Arrested Off Nagasaki

A Chinese fishing boat captain has been arrested after violating Japanese territorial waters:

Zhang Tianxiong, 47, captain of the 135-ton Zhedaiyu 04188, was arrested just after 4 p.m. on Nov. 6 on suspicion of ignoring a Japan Coast Guard order to stop. The arrest was made about 60 kilometers west of Torishima Island in the East China Sea, according to the Nagasaki Coast Guard Office.

The order for Zhang to stop came around 10:30 a.m., when his vessel was about 5 km northwest of the uninhabited island, which lies about 60 km southwest of the Goto island chain.

A Coast Guard patrol boat spotted the Zhedaiyu 04188 moving toward Torishima from west. When the patrol boat approached it, the fishing vessel turned around and fled in a zigzagging manner for about four hours.

Unlike last year’s infamous ramming incident, this took place in an area that is not claimed by China. There has been no protest from the Chinese government.

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Japanese Soccer Fans Will Visit North Korea

Japan’s national soccer team will face the North Korean national team in a World Cup qualifier match on November 15th. The match will be held in Pyongyang. It normally would be unthinkable for Japanese people to travel to North Korea and cheer against North Korea, but the DPRK has made a special exception and will allow a special group tour to attend the match:

Nishitetsu Travel, which is organizing the Japan Football Association’s official tour, said it had 94 internet applications by Thursday evening’s deadline and has started contacting the 65 spectators, who were selected based in order of applications and other factors.

The tour, which has been given special government approval and costs around 290,000 yen, will arrive in Pyongyang on Nov. 14 via Beijing and return to Japan’s Haneda airport the day after the game.

Japanese Foreign Ministry staff will be on hand to help provide security. Because Japan does not have official relations with North Korea, it will be the first time Foreign Ministry bureaucrats have visited North Korea since the abductee issue exploded to the surface in 2004.

At least one guy doesn’t like this new development. Here he is, in a Youtube video of his one man protest outside of the offices of Nishitetsu Travel:

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Super Handicapped Pro-Wrestling (Doglegs)

The AFP reports about Japan’s Doglegs Super Handicapped Pro-Wrestling league, where disabled people fight in the ring:

Some people might be appalled by the concept, but the wrestlers are happy to be given the opportunity to engage in an exciting activity that is usually limited to the able bodied:

Organiser Yukinori Kitajima said he has faced opposition over
the twice-yearly bouts since he started them 20 years ago.
“We have received calls of complaint in the past, with some people
saying a show like this was unpleasant and that they didn’t want to
see the handicapped around in public,” he said.
The able-bodied Kitajima, who used to work as a carer, strongly
objects to how the handicapped are treated in Japan.
“The Japanese traditionally tend to treat the mentally or
physically disabled as something that should be kept out of
sight.
“But they have their own desires. They want to make money and date
girls, living freely just like their peers,” he said. “They aren’t
tame sheep.
“Do you think they are happy just living life on welfare from the
state?
“I want to help change society by showing disabled people doing
something like this and fighting in the ring.”

Videos of matches can be
found on YouTube. You can also check out lots of great
photos at Tony McNicol’s blog.