Seven months after Japan's devastating March 11 earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disasters, the jury remains out on media reporting of the crisis. Did the domestic media downplay public health risk while their foreign counterparts titillated audiences with exploitative "disaster porn"?
While such a generalization is overly simplistic, elements of both the Japanese and U.S. media have engaged in a degree of soul searching over their disaster coverage. Their verdict: "must try harder."
Those seeking a clear grasp of the main issues should look no further than The Japan Times deputy editor Eric Johnston's excellent overview, "The Tohoku Earthquake and Tsunami, the Fukushima Nuclear Reactor, and How the World's Media Reported Them."