- KOREAN
- E-ISSN2383-9449
- SCOPUS
E-ISSN : 2383-9449
News Analysis of the Fukushima Accident: Lack of Information Disclosure, Radiation Fears and Accountability Issues
Abstract
Previous research assessed media reporting on nuclear accidents and risks, whilst studies about the Fukushima accident focused on the impact of the Internet on coverage of the incident. However, little research has addressed news framing or comparisons of the perceptions of journalists in relation to reporting nuclear accidents. The aim of this study is to apply framing analysis to news content in The New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, and USA Today about the Fukushima accident. It explores the question of how journalists view reporting on complex events. Content analysis of these three newspapers shows that conflict, responsibility, and economic consequences were the most frequently used frames. According to the journalists interviewed, the biggest problem was the inability to assess information due to contrary positions held by experts. It is argued that the Fukushima accident was framed as a conflict of experts and officials' opinions, utility and government officials' responsibility, and economic consequences for the United States. Adherence to professional norms of objectivity and impartiality was signified as the best approaches to risk reporting.
- keywords
- News framing, Fukushima, journalists' perceptions
Reference
An, S.K, and Gower, K.. How Do the News Media Frame Crises? A Content Analysis of Crisis News Coverage.
Anderson, A.. Media, Culture, and the Environment.
Berkowitz, D.. Non-Routine News and Newswork: Exploring a What-a-Story.
Brooker, C.. Charlie Brooker on the Media's Japan / Fukushima Coverage. 10 O'Clock Live (2011).
Carpenter, S.. U.S. Elite and Non-elite Newspapers' Portrayal of the Iraq War: A Comparison of Frames and Source Use.
Carstarphen, M. G., and Coman, M., P. Gross and G. Kopper (Ed.). Chapter 6: Foreign Correspondents: Necessary Mythmakers;Understanding foreign correspond-ence: A Euro-American perspective of concepts, methodologies, and theories.
Clausen, L., S. Allan (Ed.), edited by Stuart Allan. International News Flow;The Routledge Companion to News and Journalism.
Cottle, S.. Global Crisis Reporting: Journalism in the Global Age.
Cowan, J., McClure, J., and Wilson, M.. What a Difference a Year Makes: How Immediate and Anniversary Media Reports Influence Judgments About Earthquakes.
Edy, J. A., and Meirick, P.C.. Wanted, Dead or Alive: Media Frames, Frame Adop-tion, and Support for the War in Afghanistan.
Entman, R.. Framing: Toward Clarification of a Fractured Paradigm.
Entman, R.. Guilt and Innocence in the Korean Airline and Iran Air Tragedies;Projec-tion of Power: Framing News, Public Opinion and U.S. Foreign Policy.
Friedman, S.M.. Three Mile Island, Chernobyl, and Fukushima: An Analysis of Tradi-tional and New Media Coverage of Nuclear Accidents and Radiation.
Friedman, S.M., Gorney, C.M., and Egolf, B.P.. Reporting on Radiation: A Content Analysis of Chernobyl Coverage.
Friedman, S.M., Gorney, C.M., and Egolf, B.P.. Chernobyl Coverage: How the U.S. Media Treated the Nuclear Industry.
Funabashi, Y., and Kitazawa, K.. Fukushima in Review: A Complex Disaster, a Disas-trous Response.
Gamson, W.A., & Modigliani A.. Media Discourse and Public Opinion on Nuclear Power: A Constructionist Approach.
Hippel, F. von N.. The Radiological and Psychological Consequences of the Fukushi-ma Daiichi Accident.
Johnson, K.. Inundated with News, Many Find It Difficult to Keep up on Libya, The New York Times.
Johnston, E.. The Japan Times: News Digest.
Jorant, C.. The Implications of Fukushima: The European Perspective.
Lewis, S. C., and Reese, S.D.. What Is the War on Terror? Framing Through the Eyes of Journalist.
Lyman, E. S.. Surviving the One-two Nuclear Punch: Assessing Risk and Policy in a post-Fukushima World.
Major, A. M., and Atwood, L. E.. Environmental Risks in the News: Issues, Sources, Problems, and Values.
Neuman, R.W., Just, M.R., and Crigler, A.N.. Common Knowledge: News and the Construction of Political Meaning.
Pantti, M., and Wahl-Jorgensen, K.. On the Political Possibilities of Therapy News: Media Responsibility and the Limits of Objectivity in Disaster Coverage.
Pantti, M., Wahl-Jorgensen, K., and Cottle, S.. Disasters and the media (Vol. 7).
Perko, T., Turcanu, C., and Carle, B.. Media Reporting of Nuclear Emergencies: The Effects of Transparent Communication in a Minor Nuclear Event.
Riffe, D, Lacy S., and Fico, F.G.. Analyzing Media Messages: Using Quantitative Content Analysis in Research.
Rubin, D. M.. How the News Media Reported on Three Mile Island and Chernobyl.
Scheufele, D.A.. Framing as a Theory of Media Effects.
Scheufele, D. A., and Tewksbury, D.. Framing, Agenda Setting and Priming: The Evolution of Three Media Effects Models.
Schudson, M.. The Anarchy of Events and the Anxiety of Story Telling.
Semetko, H. A., Valkenburg, P.M.. Framing European Politics: A Content Analysis of Press and Television News.
Suzuki, T.. Deconstructing the Zero-risk Mindset: The Lessons and Future Responsibilities for a post-Fukushima Nuclear Japan.
Tierney, K, Bevc, C., and Kuligowski, E.. Metaphors Matter: Disaster Myths, Media Frames and Their Consequences in Hurricane Katrina.
Tkach-Kawasaki, L., Kingston J. (ed.). March 11. 2011 Online: Comparing Japanese Newspaper Web-sites and International News Websites;Natural Disaster and Nuclear Crisis in Japan.
Vreese de, C. H.. News Framing: Theory and Typology.
Vreese de, C. H., Hjarvard S. (ed.). Frames in Television News: British, Danish, and Dutch Television News Coverage of the Introduction of the Euro;News in a Globalized Society.
Westerstahl, J, and Johansson, F.. Chernobyl and the Nuclear Power Issue in Sweden: Experts, Media, and Public Opinion.
Wilkins, L., and Patterson, P.. Risk Analysis and the Construction of News.
Yokota, T. and Yamada, T.. Foreign Media Create Secondary Disaster, No. 1 Shimbun.
- Downloaded
- Viewed
- 0KCI Citations
- 0WOS Citations