Hacker News new | past | comments | ask | show | jobs | submit login

der spiegel lost a LOT of credibility due to its blatant anti-nuclear messaging right from the beginning of the fukushima reports.

instead of explaining what the hell was happening, they started chernobyl discussions and simply forgot about the actual disaster.

the media in german speaking countries went full retard of fukushima.




the media in german speaking countries went full retard of fukushima

I can confirm this for Austria. The country has always had a somewhat schizophrenic relationship with nuclear energy[1], and the media (even supposedly reputable papers like Die Presse) have gone into multi-page "OMG second Chernobyl" hysteria mode. I sampled some articles - the amount of factual errors is staggering. I've stopped reading any local news media as a result; I have to assume I'm being fed propaganda the rest of the time, too.

[1] There is one nuclear power plant in the country. It never went into operation: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zwentendorf_Nuclear_Power_Plant There is however, an operational research reactor. Anti-nuclear-energy-sentiment is widespread (large majority); the fact that the energy imported from neighbouring countries is largely generated by nuclear plants is conveniently ignored; in fact, there are longstanding campaigns to pressure the neighbouring countries to shut their plants down. I also find it amusing that the IAEA is headquartered here.


lost credibility with whom?

In Germany, it's been no more anti-nuclear than the rest of the German media, politics and public opinion. It's not losing credibility here.

Outside Germany? One of the main reasons to read news from different places is to get a sense of the range of arguments being made. If Der Spiegel just parroted the view in the USA, it would be far less valuable.


Agreed. I currently have a hard time finding _any_ usuable information in German. I quickly turned away from all media here, following the "Why I'm not worried.." and its follow-up submissions on this site instead.

Spiegel et al failed. The whole media message over here is "nuclear power is far too dangerous, look at Japan" and nothing more.


Interesting. I was not aware of that. Would you say that Der Spiegel's news is generally credible?




Guidelines | FAQ | Lists | API | Security | Legal | Apply to YC | Contact

Search: