nuclear-news

latest news on the uranium/nuclear industry

New communications can help to rid the world of nuclear dangers

Crowdsourcing Nuclear Problems, NPR 8 Feb 2012 ”….Rose Gottemoeller, acting undersecretary of state for arms control, ….. She’s behind a campaign to discover how new
communications tools can help rid the world of some of the dangers of nuclear weapons.   Read more »

February 9, 2012 Posted by | 2 WORLD, media | Leave a Comment

Japan’s media “press club”- subservient to nuclear industry and government

troubling questions whether nuclear power is safe anywhere in this seismically-active archipelago. TEPCO, as on previous occasions, provided incomplete answers, perhaps reflecting valid uncertainties—but also suggesting it is not telling the whole story.

Japan’s nuclear crisis, The meltdown and the media The Economist, Jan 16th 2012,  by K.N.C. | TOKYO ”…On January 16th, the Fukushima Nuclear Accident Independent Investigation Commission (NAIIC) held its first public hearing. Some 50 members of the public, and around 100 journalists, attended.
…..Japan’s media operate under a “press club” system that can lead to a form of self-censorship. News is doled out in unofficial interactions with the press. This serves many interests. For government and to a lesser extent business, it keeps the media on a tight leash and controls content. For individual journalists, it gives the veneer of exclusive information and inside access. For newspapers, it lessens the chance of being scooped by rivals, so everyone can work under less pressure. Read more »

January 18, 2012 Posted by | Japan, media | Leave a Comment

Japan’s mothers using social media to pursue concerns about radiation

Can Web-savvy activist moms change Japan? Times of India AP | Dec 29, 2011  TOKYO: Japan’s nuclear crisis has turned Mizuho Nakayama into one of a small but growing number of internet-savvy activist moms.

Worried about her 2-year-old son and distrustful of government and TV reports that seemed to play down radiation risks, she scoured the Web for information and started connecting with other mothers through Twitter and Facebook, many using social media for the first time.  Read more »

December 30, 2011 Posted by | Japan, media | Leave a Comment

Facebook joins Greenpeace in renewable energy campaign

Facebook, Greenpeace partner on renewable energy, ZD Net By  | December 15, 2011, Summary: Facebook and Greenpeace have partnered to promote clean, renewable energy and improve energy efficiency in data centers. The news follows a large Greenpeace campaign against Facebook. Read more »

December 16, 2011 Posted by | 2 WORLD, media | Leave a Comment

Despite media coverage against renewable energy, British public supports it

Over at BusinessGreen, James Murray describes the survey results as ”explosive”, especially given that they “follow months during which the right-wing press has waged an increasingly virulent campaign against climate change, wind farms, renewable energy, and the greenlevies that pay for it”. 

British public strongly support renewable energy, survey says, The Guardian, 14 Dec 11 56% of UK population wants to see more investment in wind power, finds a YouGov survey
Does the UK have a “silent majority” in support of further investment in renewables? You wouldn’t necessarily think so if you listen to the very vocal, media-driven opposition against, say, wind power, but a recent YouGov survey commissioned by the Sunday Times suggests the true picture might be a little different.

The Sunday Times itself chose not to report the YouGov findings related to renewables (you can draw your own conclusions as to why), but if you look beyond the headline polling about the 1,696 respondents’ political leanings you start to reach some rather intriguing environmentally themed results ….

But the real point of interest can be found on page nine, which asks: ”Thinking about the country’s future energy provision, do you think the government should be looking to use more or less of the following?”
Solar power
More than at present – 74%
Less than at present – 6%
Maintain current levels – 12%
Not sure – 9%

Wind farms
More than at present – 56%
Less than at present – 19%
Maintain current levels – 15%
Not sure – 9%… Read more »

December 15, 2011 Posted by | media, renewable, UK | Leave a Comment

Japanese anti nuclear activists ignored by media

 activists say they are being ignored by the domestic media and threatened by ultra-nationalist groups. 

“The Japanese newspapers and TV stations all take so much advertising money from the power companies that they won’t report on the strength of the anti-nuclear movement or cover our protests,” 

Anti-nuclear protesters have an unlikely ally in Masayoshi Son, Japan’s richest man.

Japan’s anti-nuclear protesters find the going tough, despite Fukushima disaster Polls show the public turning against nuclear energy after Japan’s Fukushima disaster. But low coverage of protests and powerful business and political interests have complicated efforts to promote change. Christian Science Monitor,  By Gavin Blair, Correspondent / November 23, 2011 Read more »

November 28, 2011 Posted by | Japan, media | Leave a Comment

Corruption in media coverage of Fukushima radiation dangers

The corrupt reporting of Fukushima radiation risks Independent Australia 14 Nov 11 Nuclear authorities and the mainstream media have been actively minimising and trivialising the grave radiation dangers of the Fukushima disaster, says John LaForge.

The ongoing radiation catastrophe stemming from three out-of-control nuclear reactors in Fukushima, Japan, has taken a back seat to far graver news events of late — Michael Jackson’s doctor, fund-raising by presidential hopefuls and fluctuations in the stockmarket.

Meanwhile, reporting about the ongoing disaster relentlessly repeats the minimization and trivialization of radiation risk that began March 11, Read more »

November 21, 2011 Posted by | 2 WORLD, media, spinbuster | Leave a Comment

Time to stop India’s media disinformation and spin on USA-India nuclear deal

Stop this spin on nuclear liability law! Rediff, 18 Nov 11  Maybe, Justice Markandey Katju, chairman of the Press Council of India has a point – India needs a media regulatory framework. Katju pointed out how ill-equipped are our journalists intellectually and otherwise to handle complex issues. Take, for instance, the new rules that have been formulated by the government on the nuclear liability law.

 The spin doctors of the government are already at work to convey the impression that the new rules in no way erode the provisions of the nuclear liability law. To be sure, in the coming days, we will have to depend heavily on the western media to comprehend what is happening.
Read the Bloomberg report. It says the government is wooing the GE and Westinghouse by framing rules that meet these firms’ demands. Areva of France has welcomed the rules already!
Again, read the WSJ report from Delhi. It says this is a move to “allay the concerns” of the American companies.
Hopefully, a regulatory framework will protect the Indian media from the government spin also. It needs gumption to cliam that on the eve of PM Manmohan Singh’s pow-vow with US President Barack Obama in Bali, the government flexed its muscles and told off the Americans! Who do they think they are – these nameless, faceless bureaucrats – to dish out such crass disinformation, assuming that Indian journalists (and we Indians who read them) are a bunch of morons?

November 19, 2011 Posted by | India, media | Leave a Comment

Climate change documentary – media self censors the facts

Broadcasters lose their nerve over BBC’s climate change program, Environmental News Network, 15 Nov 11 The final episode of the BBC’s Frozen Planet documentary series that focuses on climate change has been canned in the US and other countries, prompting fierce criticism. All seven episodes of the multi-million pound nature series, written and presented by Sir David Attenborough, will be screened in the UK — but the final show, entitled ‘On Thin Ice’, has been shelved by several foreign TV channels, including the Discovery channel in the US.

The last programme in the series looks at the man-made threat to the environment and examines how Earth’s ice caps are changing and the likely consequences for the rest of the planet.  But US audiences will not be shown the final episode, where many fear a show that promotes the theory of global warming could upset viewers.

The package of six episodes has been sold to 30 countries and networks were provided with the option to buy a seventh ‘optional extra’ episode, along with behind-the-scenes footage. The documentary series is said to be an epic portrait of two disappearing wildernesses — the Arctic and the Antarctic – before they change forever, and is already hugely popular with viewers in the UK. However, according to the BBC, ten countries have chosen not to screen the final episode.

In the US, Frozen Planet is being aired by Discovery, which was jointly involved in the production of the series. The seven programmes cost £15 million to produce and took four years to film and edit.It is understood the Frozen Planet DVD will be sold overseas, including the US, containing all seven episodes as broadcast in the UK.

Ben Stewart of Greenpeace today said: “It’s regrettable that millions of viewers in the US won’t be getting the full story when they watch this mesmerising series. It’s like pressing the stop button on Titanic just when the iceberg appears. http://www.enn.com/ecosystems/article/43567

November 16, 2011 Posted by | 2 WORLD, climate change, media | Leave a Comment

USA debating how to censor the Internet

Right now, the US Congress is debating a law that would give them the power to censor the world’s Internet – creating a blacklist that could target YouTube, WikiLeaks and even groups like Avaaz!

Under the new law, the US could force Internet providers to block any website on suspicion of violating copyright or trademark legislation, or even failing to sufficiently police their users’ activities. And, because so much of the Internet’s hosts and hardware are located in the US, their blacklist would clamp down on the free web for all of us.  Read more »

November 16, 2011 Posted by | media, USA | Leave a Comment

Rupert Murdoch’s secret moves to destroy public broadcasting in Australia

In hours, Murdoch could secure his stranglehold on the Australian media by acquiring our public international TV news network — and rob a struggling ABC of $223 million in funding. Communications Minister Stephen Conroy is under pressure to give control over the network to Murdoch instead of the ABC - Murdoch’s mouthpiece The Australian has been leaking details of insider support for Murdoch in a blatant attempt to force Labor into backing his bid. Conroy knows that giving the network to Murdoch would greatly increase the media mogul’s corrupting influence and hurt the ABC, and is looking for a way out.

Rupert Murdoch already owns 70 percent of Australia’s newspapers. Now he’s on the hunt for more media control, and he’s hoping we won’t notice. Through his stake in Australian News Channel, he’s been pushing hard to take over the crucial but low-key ‘Australia Network’: an Australian international public broadcaster that’s available in 44 countries. Murdoch has shown that his empire ruthlessly puts profits above all else — even hacking a murdered school girl’s phone to increase sales. With this extra network, Murdoch would vastly increase his power and take control of Australia’s public image abroad. 

The move is also a key part of his strategy to destroy public broadcasting and silence independent voices. Murdoch knows that the loss of $223 million in funding would severely weaken an already stretched ABC. It would mean the loss of many ABC journalists, and potential closures of overseas news offices. If we let Murdoch win, Australia will become the first country in the world to privatise its international news service…. Read more »

October 31, 2011 Posted by | AUSTRALIA, media | Leave a Comment

How the media underplays seriousness of Fukushima radiation

Radioactive contamination of soil, tap water, rain water, groundwater, beef, fish, vegetables, animal feed and incinerator ash are almost always said to be of little or “no immediate” danger, which helps explain why Fukushima has faded from public consciousness.

Radiation Reporting: Blind, Idiotic, Corrupt — or All Three Huntington News, , October 26, 2011  BY JOHN LAFORGE The ongoing radiation catastrophe stemming from three out-of-control nuclear reactors in Fukushima, Japan has taken a back seat to far graver news events of late: Michael Jackson’s doctor, fund-raising by presidential hopefuls, the World Series, and Netflix stock.

Meanwhile, reporting about the on-going disaster relentlessly repeats the minimization and trivialization of radiation risk that began March 11, Read more »

October 27, 2011 Posted by | media | Leave a Comment

Japan’s media sacrificed journalistic integrity for money from TEPCO

the Japanese media which for years accepted TEPCO’s advertising cash in exchange for compromising their journalistic integrity……TEPCO used hundreds of millions to silence any possible media criticism of the company and nuclear power. 

TEPCO media strategy questioned ABC Radio A.M. Toney Eastley, Mark Willacy reported this story on  October 5, 2011 

TONY EASTLEY: To Japan, and more revelations have emerged about the machinations of TEPCO, the giant company that operates the Fukushima nuclear power plant.
It splashed $350 million a year on advertising and took journalists on junkets just to promote its products.

AM has spoken to Japanese politicians and journalists who describe how TEPCO used its wealth to strangle any opposition to the company. Read more »

October 6, 2011 Posted by | Japan, media | Leave a Comment

The catastrophic level of radiation to Japanese from Fukushima nuclear disaster

 In March, 2006, 20 years after the accident, the people whose health had been damaged in Russia, the Ukraine and Belarus numbered 7,000,000. 

excerpt from: Fukushima Meltdown: The World’s First Earthquake-Tsunami-Nuclear Disaster[Kindle Edition] Takashi Hirose http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005OD75J2/?tag=theasipacjo0b-20

Japan’s Earthquake-Tsunami-Nuclear Disaster Syndrome: An Unprecedented Form of Catastrophe, Japan Focus 26 Sept 11, Hirose Takashi  “……From day one the situation had reached the highest level for nuclear accidents, Level 7, and from day one the government knew this, but it concealed that information from the people, thus causing far more people to be irradiated than otherwise would have been the case.

Read more »

September 27, 2011 Posted by | - Chernobyl, health, Japan, media, Resources -audiovicual | 1 Comment

Murdoch’s media monopoly misinforms Australia on Climate Change

Nowhere has the reliance on spin been more apparent than during the coverage of the climate “debate” by the Murdoch media and allied shock jocks.

Australia’s climate scientists expose shock-jock distortion tactics, Academics catalogue the deluge of spin and misinformation of climate science by various Murdoch-owned papers, Stephan Lewandowsky   1 September 2011, Guardian UK,  Australia has unwittingly become a social experiment. A ruthless experiment on the fate of a society when a single media conglomerate, Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp, owns 167 newspapers and controls around 70% of the printed media market. Read more »

September 7, 2011 Posted by | AUSTRALIA, media | Leave a Comment

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