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MECM90009 Global Crisis Reporting
Assignment 1 – Media Report
Three years since March 11, 2011: The representation of risk in reporting the
Fukushima crises in 2014
Introduction
March 11, 2014 marked the third year anniversary of the triple disaster that occurred in
Fukushima, Japan. This media report analyses and discuss the representation of risk as
reported in three newspapers from Japan (Asahi Shimbun), Singapore (The Straits
Times), and Australia (The Age) in the week from March 9 to 16, 2014, using Beck’s
(1999: 4-5) notion of risk society and Silverstone’s (2007: 47) notion of proper distance
to examine how the said newspapers portrayed the situation of Fukushima three years
since the disaster first struck. The report is separated into four sections: the research
question and theoretical framework adopted for this report; the significance of this
report in contributing to existing studies on the reporting of the Fukushima disaster;
then a discussion on the methodology and method used to analyse the sample; and
finally a discussion of the findings followed by the conclusion. This media report argues
that journalistic norms and geographic proximity highlight the difficulties of balancing
the portrayal of Fukushima with representations and a context that allows non-Japanese
audiences to relate to Fukushima’s recovery.
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Research Question and Theoretical Framework
Before discussing the literature related to Fukushima, I want to first elaborate on the
theoretical framework adopted for this report. In Beck’s (1992: 22-23, 1999: 5-6)
discussion of the risk society, he states how as the world becomes more interdependent
and connected due to technological advancements and financial trade relationships,
there is a growing sense of risk and uncertain dangers that are ‘open to social definition
and construction’ (19992: 23). Silverstone (2007: 46-47) has also used the notion of
proper distance to highlight the central role media plays in constructing our
understanding of distant others. Specifically, both Beck (Beck 1999: 44) and Silverstone
(2007: 51) mention the role of television in constructing crises. I want to explore Beck
(1992, 1999) and Silverstone’s (2007) theories in the context of online news media to
consider how textual, as much as visual, representations from the media also impact our
perception of risk and relationship to distant crises. I thus propose the following
research questions:
1) How is the risk of Fukushima, three years since the earthquake, tsunami
and nuclear reactor meltdown, portrayed in online news media? And,
2) How is the relevance of Fukushima made relatable to non-Japanese
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readers?
Literature Review
My report adds to existing research by contributing potential areas of examining the
representation of nuclear risks. Existing literature have discussed how nuclear risks are
limited in its representation (Beck 1999: 53-54; Kinsella 2012: 256, 259). In his
discussion of the challenges emerging due to technological change, Beck (1999: 52-53)
uses the example of nuclear energy to argue how our safety and security is ‘uninsured’.
He argues how nuclear risk is unpredictable in its consequence (Beck 1999: 54). It is ‘an
event with a beginning and no end’ due to the invisibility of the damage that nuclear
energy can cause (Beck 1999: 53-54). Kinsella (2012: 255-256) uses this argument to
explore how the media reported the Fukushima disaster in 2011. From his findings, he
argues how the Fukushima disaster was represented as fatalistic, and a lesson to be
learned for other countries also using nuclear energy. Kinsella (2012: 259) criticises
how portraying the crisis at Fukushima a lesson to be learned for other countries ignores
the possibility that a future nuclear hazard may be triggered by drastically different
circumstances and context. This media report, in this sense, builds on Beck (1999:
52-54) and Kinsella’s (2012: 256-259) arguments by examining a different medium of
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news (print instead of broadcast) and also a more current context of Fukushima’s media
coverage (the reporting in 2014 rather than 2011).
Another aim of my report is to expand on studies already done on media coverage of
Fukushima using the same methodology. Existing studies on how both Western and
Japanese media covered the crisis used various approaches and different samples:
examining TV broadcasts or newspapers, and using textual, content or frame analysis as
their method (Imtihani and Yanai 2013: 939-940; Chattopadhyay 2012: 51; Lazic and
Muneo 2013: 261). Imtihani and Yanai’s (2013: 939) study, for instance, compared and
contrasted the reporting of Fukushima during the week of March 11 to 18, 2011
between the BBC and NHK. Based on theories of framing, and an examination of the
use of sources through textual analysis of news broadcasts, they argued that NHK’s
coverage favoured the government with a large number of sources coming from official
releases while the BBC adopted a more critical approach, criticising the Japanese
government as not taking action and efforts to contain the disaster was futile (Imtihani
and Yanai 2013: 944). Imtihani and Yanai’s (2013: 944) findings suggest that compared
to local coverage, Western news was actually a better news source due to its critical
approach. I adopt the same methodology (frame analysis) Imtihani and Yanai (2013)
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have used, but provide new findings by examining samples from a different news
medium (online news).
Chattopadhyay’s (2012: 55) study differs from Imtihani and Yanai’s (2013) study by
collecting samples from online news websites. Through a comparative frame analysis of
the Fukushima coverage by CNN.com and Asahi.com, Chattopadhyay (2012: 58) found
that CNN used the threat frame more than Asahi, with articles that discuss the economic
and health impact of the disaster to the US, such as food contamination and the risk of
nuclear radiation flowing to American coastlines. Asahi, on the other hand, focused
more on the cause and losses, given that an earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear reactor
meltdown all occurred within a day, creating a mass loss of life and therefore a need to
examine the causes behind them (Chattopadhyay 2012: 58).
In contrast to Chattopadhyay (2012) and Imithani and Yanai’s (2013) studies, Lazic and
Muneo (2013: 261) looked specifically at how the US newspapers covered the
Fukushima accident beginning from March 11 to December 16, 2011, using content and
frame analysis in their methodology. Based on a content analysis of the frames used,
sources, and themes, they found that while the New York Times covered the news
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through a frame of conflict (questioning Japanese authority, and presenting opposing
opinions), the LA Times and USA Today framed the crisis for a local context, using US
experts and US nuclear industries as sources (Lazic and Muneo 2013: 267-269).
Chattopadhyay (2012: 58), Imithani and Yanai’s (2013: 944), and Lazic and Muneo’s
(2013: 267-269) findings suggest that Western, compared to Japanese, media tended to
reflect Beck’s (1992: 22-23, 1999: 5-6) notion of risk society through their reporting,
based on their focus on the nuclear meltdown and risks of the Fukushima accident,
while the Japanese media did not, and instead focused on the causes and loss of life due
to the tsunami and earthquake. None of these studies (Imtihani and Yanai 2013;
Chattopadhyay 2012; Lazic and Muneo 2013) however, explored in depth the rationale
behind using such frames and how it relates to journalistic norms and geographic
proximity. My media report therefore re-examines their findings in more depth.
Methodology and Method
The sample and method I used to analyse the articles was a frame analysis of three
newspapers from three countries: The Age (Australia), The Straits Times (Singapore),
and Asahi Shimbun (Japan) during the week of March 9 to 16, 2014 that marked the
third anniversary of the Fukushima disaster. Kitzinger (2007: 138-139) describes frames
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as ways in which we negotiate meaning in order to understand reality, she then
discusses how frame analysis could be used to analyse the media production process
that affects representation and coverage of certain issues. Moreover, Kitzinger (2007:
145) notes that frames change over time. In choosing to use frame analysis, this media
report explores how the representation of the Fukushima crisis three years on is linked
journalistic norms of news production and geographical proximity. The sample of
articles collected in existing studies (Imithani and Yanai 2013; Chattopadhyay 2012;
Lazic and Muneo 2013) on Fukushima are either taken from the US or UK media in a
comparative analysis with Japanese coverage. By choosing to compare the coverage of
Fukushima from Australia and Singapore with Japan, I add to existing studies by
re-examining their findings using the same methods but with a different sample.
Results and Discussion
A frame analysis of articles collected from Asahi Shimbun, The Straits Times, The Age,
and from March 9 to 16, 2014 revealed similar frames used to perceive the perpetual
risk of Fukushima, but also variations in representations and contexts of risk once it is
reported outside of the local.
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Use of frames
The most prominent finding across two of the three newspapers, Asahi Shimbun and
The Age, was the use of the conflict frame to understand the relevance of Fukushima
now. In Asahi Shimbun (2014; 2014b), this was evident in positioning the official
sources against those of evacuees and survivors. In doing so, it portrays Fukushima as
an issue still of concern by placing the conflicting views on the risk of nuclear radiation
between government (pro-nuclear, urging a restart of reactors in 2015) and residents in
affected areas (anti-nuclear, cautious and fear of reactors starting up again) against each
other (Asahi Shimbun 2014, 2014b). This was similarly the case for articles in The Age
(2014, 2014b) in positing the polarising views of Japanese government officials with
those of concerned citizens and anti-nuclear protestors. The use of the conflict frame by
articles in Asahi Shimbun and The Age illustrates Miller and Riechert’s (2000: 48) point
that environmental risk itself does not have news value but becomes news once it is
framed in terms of conflict. Cottle (2007: 21) has also argued that journalists work to a
deadline and therefore depend on authoritative sources to provide background on an
issue (Miller and Riechert 2000: 50). Furthermore, Miller and Riechert (2000: 51) argue
that ‘conflict among competing interests is a principal driving force of news’. In this
sense, journalistic norms such as a dependency on authoritative sources for background
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and the news value of conflict illustrates that Asahi Shimbun and The Age reflect Beck’s
notion that mass media plays a central role in the social construction of risk (Anderson
2000: 96-97).
While Asahi Shimbun and The Age reflect findings in relevant studies on risk and the
media coverage of Fukushima, The Straits Times is an interesting case as articles found
by searching ‘Fukushima’ in its archives were under the opinion section rather than in
news like the former two newspapers. In an opinion article by The Straits Times, the
relevance and risk of Fukushima is framed as an issue of responsibility rather than
conflict (Kwan 2014). In the article, Kwan (2014) critiques the lack of progress by the
Japanese government in rebuilding Fukushima, as well as the Japanese media for their
lack of coverage on the reconstruction process. The use of words such as ‘it is
depressing’ and ‘it is unnerving’ to describe the actions Japanese government and Tokyo
Electric have taken indicates a framing of Fukushima as an issue that the Japanese
government and Tokyo Electric still has yet to solve and thus remain accountable (Kwan
2014). Kwan’s (2014) article reflects Beck’s (1992: 24) notion of risk society in that by
shifting the ‘unpolitical’ (natural and nuclear disaster at Fukushima) to an issue of the
‘political’ (Japan’s governmental responsibility), bureaucracies and institutions are
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forced to realise the ‘political potential of catastrophes’. In short, the framing of
Fukushima in Japanese media has changed since its coverage in 2011, moving from a
coverage focused on causes and loss to conflict, while Australian and Singaporean
media reflect the use of conflict and a critical stance towards Fukushima coverage that
the US and UK media have shown three years ago.
Representation and context of risk
Although the use of frames reflects similar findings from existing studies, the three
newspapers differed in coverage when examining their context and representation of
Fukushima’s perpetual risk. In terms of Asahi Shimbun, given the newspaper’s physical
proximity to Fukushima and their journalists’ relationship with affected residents, the
risk of Fukushima is represented as a health concern over nuclear radiation (Asahi
Shimbun 2014, 2014b). This was similar not only in the two articles mentioned earlier,
but also throughout the week of the third anniversary (Asahi Shimbun 2014c; Tada and
Sekine 2014). For The Strait Times and The Age however, what becomes notable is each
newspaper’s geographical proximity to Fukushima that determines how the risk of
Fukushima is understood.
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In the case of The Straits Times, Fukushima is framed as an economic risk rather than
health. For instance, Kwan’s (2014) article begins with a rhetorical question, ‘is the
food in Japan safe to eat?’ thus framing the issue as a concern over food contamination
and economic impact for a Singaporean context given the country’s trade relations with
Japan. This was similar in the case of another opinion article from The Straits Times, in
which the issue of Fukushima is framed in terms of relevance and currency to Japan
hosting the 2020 Olympics (Narushige 2014). The use of sources in Asahi Shimbun and
The Straits Times also differ, as the former quoted evacuees and affected residents
directly, therefore able to frame the crisis of Fukushima more specifically as concerns
over nuclear radiation and the risk that continues for the local residents (Asahi Shimbun
2014, 2014b; Tada and Sekine 2014). Meanwhile, due to distance The Straits Times
could only obtain secondary sources such as articles from Japan news organisations and
Japanese residents living in Singapore in order to frame the story (Kwan 2014;
Narushige 2014). In this sense, a news organisation’s geographical proximity to
Fukushima also affects the representation and framing of the Fukushima crisis in 2014
locally and internationally.
In contrast to the former two newspapers that still had a close distance with Fukushima
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physically, The Age’s representation of the still-existent risk of Fukushima reflects a
distant perspective that is an indicator of the paper’s own geographical distance from
the crisis itself. First and foremost, all the articles were taken from central news
agencies such as AFP, Bloomberg and Reuters, thus no journalists were assigned to
cover the story directly (The Age 2014; Hanai 2014; The Age 2014b). Subsequently, the
risk of Fukushima is portrayed as the dangers radiation causes for early childhood
development (Hanai 2014). These different and various portrayals of Fukushima’s risk
in 2014 in the local and international context illustrate van Loon’s (2000: 237-238)
point that there is a ‘hyper-intensified multiplication’ of risks due to how coverage or
representations of a particular crisis in the media transforms, or frames said crisis into
different types of risks – as with the case of Fukushima it becomes a health, economic
or childhood development risk. However, such differing representations of Fukushima
from Japan, Singapore and Australia also put into question the notion of proper distance
(Silverston 2007: 47). When describing proper distance, Silverstone (2007: 46-47)
emphasises that imagination is essential in the representation, and our understanding, of
distant others. In this sense, while it is evident from the use of frames that the media is
central in the construction and representation of risk, the findings also indicate that as
the physical distance between Fukushima and each newspaper grows wider, the
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representation of Fukushima becomes less relevant to the Japanese context and more
towards a Singaporean and Australian perspective. In summary, the use of frames and
various representations of Fukushima by Japan, Singapore and Australia highlight the
difficulty of the media in striking a balance between showing the readers the state of
Fukushima, and the context allowing them to ‘imagine’, or care for, Fukushima’s
recovery process.
Conclusion
The media report began with asking the question of how the risk of Fukushima is
portrayed, and therefore made relatable to readers, in online news media. It utilised the
theoretical framework of Beck’s (1992, 1999) risk society and Silverstone’s (2007: 47)
proper distance in examining the articles of Asahi Shimbun, The Strait Times and The
Age over the week from March 9 to 16, 2014 that marked the third year anniversary of
the Fukushima crisis. Through a frame analysis of articles related to Fukushima, it
found that the conflict frame remains a common way in which the risk of Fukushima is
understood, due journalistic norms that mean a dependence on authoritative sources and
the news value of conflict. It also found that despite similar uses of frames, the context
and representation of Fukushima’s risk between the local (Japan) and international
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(Singapore and Australia) becomes different. Singaporean and Australian coverage of
Fukushima were given a local context in order for its readers to understand the
relevance and perpetual risk of Fukushima, illustrating that geographical distance
impacts representation and relevance of Fukushima in 2014 and how it relates to
Japanese and non-Japanese audiences. To conclude, journalistic practices and physical
proximity to Fukushima highlights the challenges of balancing a portrayal of
Fukushima’s recovery to how it should be relatable to non-Japanese readers.
Word count: 2781
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