Over the past week we've seen a stark contrast in how the Fukushima nuclear disaster has been reported. "Panic" read the New York Daily News. "Get out of Tokyo Now" said The Sun. One expects that of tabloids, yet more credible media also described an "exodus" from Tokyo, neglecting to mention that it was primarily foreign residents who were leaving, many with few ties here who preferred to err on the side of caution. Japanese news was sober in contrast. "Radiation exposure can be dealt with" read The Asahi Shimbun.
So while rescue workers were searching frantically through the rubble for survivors in Tohoku, non-Japanese-speaking residents elsewhere were tasked with searching for accurate news reports that would ease their growing fears.
Jump to Cologne, Germany, where User Experience designer Marian Steinbach was in search of answers: "I think the question not only I am asking is: Is nuclear radiation spreading over the country? But I couldn't find anything. When I discovered the www.bousai.ne.jp website I found that they offered real-time values."