1. Dairy Food Safety Issues after the
Fukushima Nuclear Disaster
Longfei Xi
Washington State University
English 403 Section 1
Spring 2013

2. Japan Touhoku Earthquake and Tsunami
(2011.03.11)

3. Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Disaster

4. Dairy Food Safety Issues

5. Research Tasks and Methods
• Task: A thorough evaluation of newspaper coverage of the topic
• Newspapers: The Christian Science Monitor and The Daily Yomiuri
• Databases: LexisNexis Academic and ProQuest Newsstand
• Keywords: Fukushima, nuclear, milk
• Methods: Coverage Comparison and Content Analysis

6. Similarities and Differences
• Similarities
• Event: dairy food safety issues after the disaster
• Multiple sources: government officials, scientists and others
• Differences
• The Christian Science Monitor
• Focus on US as well as Japan
• Represent human’s perspectives
• Based on civilian interviews, facts and scientific data
• Neutral
• The Daily Yomiuri
• Focus on Japan only
• Describe policies and standards
• Lack of interviews with civilians and solid data
• In favor of the Japanese government

7. Why?
• Different backgrounds and aims
• The Christian Science Monitor
• Christian: Be owned by a church
• Independent of governments and corporations
• Science: Provide solid scientific data and facts
• Credible and human-oriented
• Monitor: Neutral
• Free of own opinions and viewpoints
• The Daily Yomiuri
• Daily: Update frequently
• Limited to detailed data and facts
• Yomiuri (読売): Be owned by Japan’s largest media group
• Affected by government or corporation power