Flutterby™! : Irresponsible Journalism

Matthew Meyer - Irresponsible Journalism - some notes on news coverage of the Japan earthquake and nuclear situation:

Part of the reason I’m so angry with her [ed: CNN's Kung Lah] at this point is because of the shitty reporting done by nearly all of the foreign media that I have read since the disaster; and also because of the past reports she has done which were similarly disrespectful and misinformed. But not just for misinforming Americans about the situation in Japan, I am angry because she and people like her are a very big part of the reason that foreigners take a lot of crap in Japan. People who have lived in a country for 4 years and still do not know how to operate in the society should really take a break from work and enroll in some culture classes. Foreigners in Japan are stereotyped as rude, arrogant, thick-headed braggarts; and a 2-minute clip by her does more to reinforce that stereotype in the eyes of Japan than all of the hard work by the decent foreigners living here does to improve it. Worse, the topic she is reporting on is a seriously big problem and needs to be reported on… but the unprofessional level of her journalism entirely undermines the importance of the issue.