20.3.11

The Disasterous Reporting of Fukushima

I know that it's often rather eye-rolling to see controversial political advocacy, but I'd really recommend checking out what Fareed Zakaria has to say in this report. I think he does a good job of putting the issue into context. I don't think he goes far enough in terms of alleviating concerns over the Fukushima accident, nor in supporting the idea of clean nuclear energy, but he's one of the first Western reporters covering the story that I've been able to nod my head with.

For the last week I've been in quiet despair over the baseless fearmongering and sometimes stark racism that seemed to afflict Western media covering the disasters in Japan. Some of my favorite news agencies - ProPublica, NYT and NPR among them - were not unaffected by this seeming free-for-all of dire speculation that has caused so much panic. I was glad to see that at least one reporter has managed to retain some level of journalistic reserve and perspective on such an explosive issue.