A brief example of how reporting can be worse than useless

[phanatic]

ABC News:

Next, the National Police Agency used a pumper truck to launch 11 water cannons from the ground. The results were deemed a failure by officials, Japanese broadcaster NHK reported.

Did Japanese broadcaster NHK actually report that?

If you look at NHK's headlines, they sort of did:

Police failed to spray water to cool No.3 reactor
But

Comments

[shoofus]

that is a very interesting analysis. and a good reminder to try to get as close as possible to primary sources for information. it would also help if there were more detailed updates coming from TEPCO and it would certainly cut down on the rampant speculation.

[jakshadows]

I've been seeing exactly this all over! It's been driving me nuts! The social media outlets are probably the worst offenders.

[phanatic]

I'm looking at what's coming from big-name reporters on Twitter and thinking "This is the worst avenue for the conveyance of accurate information we as a species have ever developed.

[shoofus]

actually the NHK site now has two separate stories up, one of which just says the operation failed. that is time stamped 20:06, the more detailed story is time stamped 22:14, both from the 17th. it is confusing as the apparently first posted story makes a conclusion that the apparently second posted story does not. and yet they are both posted on the site.

[phanatic]

See what I mean? That's even *the same news agency*.

There's so much noise here you can't extract low-level signals. High-level signals like "The fucking roof just exploded off the reactor building," sure. Low-level stuff, no chance.

[autopope]

Forget news agencies, listen to the International Atomic Energy Authority reports. They're delayed a little, but the IAEA aren't beholden to TEPCO and are required to take a keen professional interest in what's going on.

Also, their releases are written by people who seem to have half a clue about what they're talking about.

[phanatic]

Also, their releases are written by people who seem to have half a clue about what they're talking about.

Yes. See this bit?

Radiological Contamination

* 17 people (9 TEPCO employees, 8 subcontractor employees) suffered from deposition of radioactive material to their faces, but were not taken to the hospital because of low levels of exposure
* One worker suffered from significant exposure during 'vent work,' and was transported to an offsite center
* 2 policemen who were exposed to radiation were decontaminated
* Firemen who were exposed to radiation are under investigation

The IAEA continues to seek information from Japanese authorities about all aspects of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant.

CNN apparently saw this and liveblogged "IAEA reports 20 people being treated for radiation sickness."