By Terrence Newton

It has been over four years since the 9.0 magnitude Tōhoku earthquake and ensuing catastrophic tsunami leveled the Pacific coast of Japan, setting off a nuclear meltdown at the Fukushima Daiichi power plant. Radiation has been pouring into the ocean, into the earth below, and into the air for over 1500 days now and there is still zero sense of urgency on the part of the government and world leaders to seriously address this blooming catastrophe. All efforts to stop the meltdown and clean up the radiation have been left in the hands of TEPCO, Japan’s energy company that has been proven time and again to be inept and unprepared to confront a disaster of this sort.

The mainstream media, for its part, appears to be complicit in a cover-up of the effects that Fukushima radiation is already having on our environment and on human and animal health, and instead insists on omitting most news on the matter, or seriously dumbing down reports of the fallout.

For example, at CNN.com, a search for ‘Fukushima’ yields only 6 unique related stories for the entire calendar year of 2015 so far. Two of these stories focus on sensationalized footage of underwater robots assisting in the detection of radiation. A third story is ironically about the failure and loss of a first underwater robot. On April 14th, CNN ran a video report with 11 short segments entitled ‘New look inside Fukushima,’ which focused primarily on the lifestyle impact the disaster has had on Japan’s Fukushima prefecture. On February 24th, 2015 CNN ran a very short snippet entitled ‘Highly Radioactive Water Spill Sets Off Alarm at TEPCO Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant,’ which included this quote:

With discharged water likely to have contained contaminated water, the regulatory body concluded that part of highly radioactive water flew into the plant’s port. It has yet to find out the cause of the situation.

On January 20th, 2015, CNN ran an article about a TEPCO employee who died by falling inside a water storage tank at Fukushima.

At the home page of FoxNews.com, you might see embarrassing photos of presidential candidates and stories about ISIS, shark attacks, motel shootouts and murder investigations, but very little pressing news about the impacts of Fukushima on public health. A search of their coverage of of Fukushima for 2015 includes a June 30th story about a cool looking new robot called the ‘Scorpion’ that promises to soon get a look at melted fuel inside the reactor. ‘Fukushima’ was tagged and mentioned in a Fox News video report on June 18th, 2015 covering the upcoming robot Olympics, which included the quote, ‘who isn’t excited about Terminator or Genesis?’

A Fox News story about $1.6 billion in wasted cleanup funds in Japan was featured on March 24th, with a retraction published the following day to correct a misprint about who’s funds were allegedly squandered. On March 9th of this year, Fox News also ran a very concise anniversary piece on the disaster, mostly focusing on the prospect of new earthquakes, tsunamis, or volcanic eruptions that could potentially cause more damage to Japan’s nuclear infrastructure. In this article they did mention the ongoing fallout, as is fully quoted here:

Radioactivity released as a result of the Fukushima accident continues to be a problem at the site, which the Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) is decommissioning. A radioactive “puddle” was discovered in early March on the roof of one of the damaged buildings, TEPCO said. In late February, engineers also detected a rise in the radioactivity of drainage water, some of which went into the ocean.

On June 11th and 12th, Fox News ran 2 articles about the proposed 30-40 year ‘roadmap’ to clean up Fukushima, featuring vague guesses as to how some of the major issues at the plant can be resolved.

As examples, here are a couple of choice quotes:

The volume of [radioactive] water grows by 300 tons daily. TEPCO runs it through treatment machines to remove most radioactive elements, and then stores it in thousands of tanks on the compound. Water leaks pose environmental concerns and health risks to workers. Nuclear experts say controlled release of the treated water into the ocean would be the ultimate solution.

The 1,573 units of [highly radioactive and volatile] fuel rods — mostly used but some of them new — are considered among the highest risks at the plant, because they are uncovered within the reactor building. To remove them, the building roofs must be taken off and replaced with a cover that prevents radioactive dust from flying out. Each building is damaged differently and requires its own cover design and equipment. The government and plant operator TEPCO hope to start the process in 2018, three years later than planned.

On April 13th, Fox News piped in along with CNN in about the loss of the radiation detecting robot. And on January 9th, again in concert with CNN, Fox News also covered the death of the TEPCO employee who fell in the water tank.

The most recent report on Fukushima to be found at MSNBC.com is over a year old, and covers the 2014 anniversary of Fukushima in a short 186-word (including author bio) piece.

CBSNews.com featured on article in 2015 about of the impact of radioactive fallout on birds in the vicinity of Fukushima, which is actually the most thorough report on Fukushima’s environmental impact to be found so far in the mainstream media for 2015.

Even at the ever-popular DrudgeReport.com, 2015 coverage of the Fukushima catastrophe is light and fails to bring attention to the impacts on human and environmental health. A search on their site reveals 10 links (with 2 duplicate links) about Fukushima for 2015, with one link about the arrival of Fukushima contamination on the U.S. Pacific Coast, and another linking to an Independent.UK story about the importation of radioactive Japanese products into Great Britain.

Behind the Glaring Omissions

Hiding behind the glaring omissions of the mainstream press regarding Fukushima is the pressing reality that contamination from the event is severe, continual, on the rise, and already affecting North America. Many smaller and bizarre ecological are taking place as we speak, such as massive marine life die-offs on the Pacific Coastline of the U.S. and Canada, and the detection of radioactive material from Fukushima in our food supply, yet there is no connection between these events and Fukushima in the mainstream news.

Independent Media Runs With the Story

There is, however, plenty of news coming out about Fukushima and plenty of conversation taking place about the impact on the environment and on human health. It’s just not to be found in the mainstream media, who is unquestionably strongly influenced by the nuclear energy industry and the government, and apparently involved in one of the greatest media cover ups of all time.

We know that the mainstream media has the power to rally the golden hordes into action, as is evident in their promotion of a race war and sensationalized coverage of ISIS and other government created threats. In fact, recent news events in the US prove just how malleable public outrage is when the elite wish to make a major pubic policy change or cause a major stir in our social fabric. Take for example the media’s efforts to shove non-issues like the Bruce Jenner sex change in our face.

When it comes to nuclear radiation and the impact it is having on life and our food supply, the dumbing down of events in the mainstream media is exceptional, suggesting that they simply do not wish for the public to know the severity of the crisis, or that they don’t care for us to be forewarned enough to take precautionary measures.

Learn More

A quick search of the web will reveal many independent organizations who are reporting on the facts and impacts of the Fukushima disaster. For starters, visit ENENews.com, FukushimaUpdate.com and more, and for an excellent primer on nuclear radiation, the nuclear energy industry and the impacts of Fukushima, watch this informative talk by Dr. Helen Caldicott, M.D.:

Terence Newton is a staff writer for WakingTimes.com, where this article first appeared. He is interested primarily with issues related to science, the human mind, and human consciousness.