Crowdsourcing Japan’s radiation levels

A group of motivated individuals have come together to create a community approach to gathering radiation data in Japan

There is a certain element of helplessness to living in northeast Japan right now. It isn’t just dealing with the images – and reality – of the large-scale catastrophe in the wake of the March 11 earthquake and tsunami It’s not even the electrical outages, the disrupted train services or the very real fear that another big earthquake – one as massive as the magnitude 9.0 temblor that wiped out entire coastal communities – is imminent. It’s the fear of radiation, invisible, odourless and potentially deadly, leaking out of the damaged Fukushima Daiichi plant and entering their bodies via contaminated air, food and water. The only way to get any peace of mind is to get accurate, timely information on radiation levels (which can also fluctuate) and therein, as the Bard would say, lies the rub, because said information is far from accessible.…continue

In Japan, disaster coverage is measured, not breathless

TOKYO — For the past two weeks, NHK, Japan’s public broadcaster, has covered a triple disaster, appraising the damage with the help of 14 helicopters, 67 broadcasting vans and virtually no adjectives.

Its anchors do not use certain words that might make a catastrophe feel like a catastrophe. “Massive” is prohibited. Same with “severe.” NHK gives its cub reporters an earthquake and tsunami coverage manual — Japan is a country famous for manuals — and here it instructs them in how not to stir panics, and how to properly apologize when calling local officials for updates.

Indeed, NHK, as part of its core mission, aims to keep viewers levelheaded.

“We see it as our social role to prevent further damages,” said Tamaki Imai, NHK’s executive managing director.

This makes NHK, at once, the best place to follow a disaster and the strangest. Its restrained reaction to all things harrowing and life-threatening is one of those textbook Japanese paradoxes, and in recent weeks Japan has responded to its crisis much in the manner that NHK has presented it….

(The Washington Post)