Remember when our cable news media was ambulance chasing this story as though it was the most important thing in the world... until eight or ten other news cycles took over where they can't seem to focus on chasing more than story at a time? I've
June 8, 2011

Remember when our cable news media was ambulance chasing this story as though it was the most important thing in the world... until eight or ten other news cycles took over where they can't seem to focus on chasing more than story at a time? I've got my issues with PBS for putting David Brooks on the air every week during the PBS Newshour, but I give them credit for not doing the same type of tabloid journalism we've seen out of our cable news networks where they decided that for example on Dylan Ratigan's show this week that he had absolutely no choice but to spend the entire hour on covering Anthony Weiner's penis.

It's so nice to see that he felt there was nothing else going on in the world worth covering, like one of the worst nuclear disasters that we've ever seen. Or maybe Republicans threatening to destroy our country's economy if they continue to play games with lifting the debt ceiling.

This story about what's going on in Japan just leaves me horrified and deeply saddened and wondering what the end game is going to finally be with how much fallout that country ultimately ends up dealing with is and how many lives are ultimately going to be affected by this disaster and if and when they finally get the fallout from these plants under control.

Report: Puts Fukushima's Radiation Release at 1/6th of Chernobyl's:

JUDY WOODRUFF: A just-released report is shedding new light on the severity of the nuclear crisis in Japan.

It's been three months since the massive earthquake and tsunami ravaged the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant in Japan. And now an official report says the amount of radiation released was more than double the earlier estimates. That means it was one-sixth the amount dispersed at Chernobyl in 1986, the world's worst nuclear disaster.

Initially, the Fukushima radiation was rated one-tenth the total at Chernobyl. The report comes from Japan's Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency. It acknowledges that three reactors at Fukushima suffered core meltdowns and likely breached their containment units.

GOSHI HOSONO, special adviser to Japanese prime minister (through translator): At present, there is damage to the bottom of the reactor container. We call this core melting in English. Part of the fuel fell into the dry earth floor, and it is possible that it is still lodged there.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Massive explosions from built-up gases rocked the plant in the days after the tsunami. The report blames faulty venting technology in the 40-year-old reactor. It also says the government was unprepared for a severe nuclear event and that regulators lacked independence from the private nuclear utility companies they were directed to oversee.

In the days just after the March 11 catastrophe, there were confused and contradictory, but usually upbeat assessments. They came from Tokyo Electric Power Company, which owns Fukushima, and from Japanese government officials.

YUKIO EDANO, Japanese chief cabinet secretary (through translator): There is no need for unreasonable worry. And I think people should respond calmly.

JUDY WOODRUFF: For thousands of people, a 12-mile no-go zone around the nuclear plant remains in place. Voluntary evacuations are in effect for the area 12 to 19 miles out, with selective mandatory displacements enforced.

Even those outside the nuclear zone and well away from the devastated coast still feel the effects. The fear of power blackouts has led to a wide-ranging conservation drive.

RYU MATSUMOTO, Japanese minister of the environment (through translator): We have an electrical power shortage this year, and the government is calling for 15 percent cuts in usage.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Part of the campaign, loosening the famous formality of Japan's business world, trading high collars for casual wear, and setting summer office thermostats to a tropical 82 degrees.

Can you help us out?

For nearly 20 years we have been exposing Washington lies and untangling media deceit, but now Facebook is drowning us in an ocean of right wing lies. Please give a one-time or recurring donation, or buy a year's subscription for an ad-free experience. Thank you.

Discussion

We welcome relevant, respectful comments. Any comments that are sexist or in any other way deemed hateful by our staff will be deleted and constitute grounds for a ban from posting on the site. Please refer to our Terms of Service for information on our posting policy.
Mastodon