Shoddy Journalism and the Good Ones: Covering the Crisis in Japan

Last night I stayed up way past my bedtime and the only thing that happened, aside from being really tired this morning, was me getting really pissed off.

I stayed up late and decided to catch up on the "news coverage" of japan by clicking on some stories on the Yahoo News main page. What I saw were puff pieces and downright bullshit by several American news organizations. I saw some journalists who basically should basically pack it in and get a job fetching coffee for camera operators as opposed to standing in front of a camera!

I’ve been basically keeping up on the most up to date news of the disaster here in Japan from a few sources. One of them of course being Japanese television (I do indeed live in Japan) and the other being Twitter. I do realize that Twitter is often a repository for people’s thoughts and opinions, but during this ongoing crisis, something different has happened. Many bloggers and vloggers based in Japan have really stepped up and have become truly credible news sources. They are spending their days and nights scouring news services, both domestic and foreign and sharing links and stories with the world. More often than not, these bloggers have been far more accurate in their reporting and views than many professional journalists.

Now of course, I cannot dump on all foreign media covering this crisis. Many correspondents and writers for foreign print/digital media have indeed been living in Japan for a long time, speak the language and understand the culture. Those journalists stand out.

I’m talking about the representatives of foreign media who are parachuted (not literally of course) in to the tsunami/disaster zone and report with no background or understanding of the people or culture. They are sent in from countries such as the U.S. and the U.K. to quickly publish puff pieces or “hard hitting” news with very few, if any facts correct. These are the folks that piss me off royally! These are the people who sell papers through bullshit and fear mongering.

There is a famous saying in the newspaper industry that states, “If it bleeds, it leads!” Simply put, sensational sells. That has been the case since the advent of newspapers and has not changed. Whether you are consuming You Tube videos, blogs, print or televised media; sensational sells! Unfortunately, sensational usually doesn’t equal accurate!

Now, back to these bloggers on Twitter who have been doing such an amazing job keeping the world informed about what is really happening. Many of them are doing such a great job because of the fact that they have been here for a long time, they speak the language, understand the culture and most of all, I think, are connected to Japan. They care about Japan and the Japanese people. They have a vested interest in the country and want to tell people, both here and abroad the real story. They may not be “professional” journalists, but they cite sources, do their research and work very hard to get things correct.

I suppose I can make the comparison of professional journalists to professional teachers (which I am). I’ve taught in Korea, Canada and now Japan and have met many teachers. Some of the greatest teachers I ever worked with in Korea/Japan didn’t have teaching licenses. They didn’t have the “credentials”, but were dedicated, driven and brilliant at their jobs.

As someone who is a professional teacher in Canada (and a student for many years), I’ve met many “professional” license-holding teachers who were lazy, inept and sloppy at their jobs. I suppose the same can be said for some journalists.

I would like to say something to all the journalists who represent foreign news organizations in Japan during this crisis. Please do your research and get the story right before you publish it! You are the reason my family back home is scared out of their minds. You are the reason so many expats in Japan have scared families in their respective countries. Honour the people of Japan by getting the story right!

Here are just a few bloggers in Japan who are doing an incredible job spreading the news of the crisis in Japan with the rest of the world (some are also journalists I respect a lot):

Garkuranman
Mutant Frog Travelogue
Slices of Soup
Martyn Williams
Tokyo Times
Hiroko Tabuchi
Justin McCurry
Steve Herman
Mark Williams
Mark MacKinnon

You need to follow these folks on Twitter, read their blogs or newspaper stories!

I will add to this list as there are many more awesome people out there I follow on Twitter and other means who are doing a great job!


Here is a great video from You Tube video blogger elevencolors who lives in downtown Tokyo. In this video he illustrates a MASSIVE mistake in reporting made by Fox News:


You can of course follow me on Twitter: @jlandkev

Unnecessary Hoarding Far Away from Danger

I've heard people talking about how folks in Tokyo and other areas close to the disaster zone in Japan are beginning to hoard items such as instant noodles, rice, bottled water and toilet paper. I've even watched videos taken by You Tube video blogger "softypapa" in Shizuoka of the same behavior.

I have to admit that I was a little surprised tonight though when my wife came back from our local supermarket (we actually have 2 small local supermarkets) and told me that all the rice, instant noodles and bottled water were sold out. I decided to go for a walk this evening and check out the state of affairs at the other local market. I was REALLY shocked to find the same thing.

It looks as if some people are beginning to panic buy. Kobe is located more than 800 kilometers from the nuclear disaster area in Fukushima. We are a very safe place. Just this afternoon I found out that the cities of Osaka and Kobe are supplying free housing to refugees from the Fukushima/Miyagi/Iwate regions.

Why are people beginning to hoard here? A few reasons I suppose.

First of all, Japanese people don't tend to shop as many of us, especially more rural living people, in Canada might. Growing up, my family lived quite far from a supermarket. Although we had some small shops in town, we would load up once every weekend and drive from Louisbourg to Sydney, about 40 kilometers away. We would fill the entire trunk of the car with groceries to stock our refrigerator and pantry. People in Japan simply don't shop that way. They don't have pantries. They have so many supermarkets and 24 hour convenience stores that they tend to shop as they need it.

Also when there are rumours that there may be food shortages (not an issue here) they panic. It's that simple. they are buying large amounts of unnecessary items!

Here is a video I discreetly took this evening with my phone at my local Daiei supermarket in Kobe, Japan:

Business as Usual?

Today was a little strange for me. Obviously, the last few days have been absolutely horrendous for so many people in the northern part of Japan. Obviously, there are not even words that come close to describing the chaos and horrors so many people faced last Friday afternoon and the tragedy that will continue for some time. Now, what was strange for me today?

What seemed so strange to me was the fact that, when I spent the afternoon downtown in Kobe with my family, everything seemed so normal. Life in Kobe seemed like, “business as usual.”

I have been blessed my entire life to this point. I have never had a personal or even geographical connection to any sort of major disaster. I have never had to face the bleak reality so many, not so far away, are now having to cope with. I suppose because the 24 hours news cycle of horror and tragedy, I expected to see people on the streets of this city acting differently in some way.

That would be absurd though. Of course people here in Kobe are going on with their regular lives. They are going to work, school and dealing with life as the normally would. Kobe is quite far away from the disaster are in Fukushima, Iwate, Sendai Miyagi, etc. This city is far away from the disaster, but I am sure that every person here and in the rest of Japan is thinking about the situation constantly.

As my family and I went home in late afternoon, I did begin to notice something different. Dozens of high school students seemed to be on every street corner and busy area of Sannomiya and Motomachi with boxes. They were standing in large groups and asking for donations to the Red Cross and other NGOs helping the disaster relief in northern Japan.

I have to admit that I probably won’t be blogging much more about this tragedy. I will keep some updates on this blog and on You Tube, but I will, for the most part get down to business as usual myself. I am not a reporter. I am not a journalist. I have often, in the past imagined what it would be like to have such a career, but at the end of the day, I am a teacher. I suppose I will stick to what I know best, sharing my knowledge of education, travel and general silliness.

I will of course continue sharing interesting information about the disaster on Twitter and of course that feed is here on the side of my blog. You can also follow me on Twitter (@jlandkev…which means…”Japan-Land Kevin).


Now here are a few non-earthquake related scenes and videos I took this afternoon with my phone while I was walking around downtown Kobe with my son.

This is the first time myself and family have seen a cherry blossom this spring. I think this tree blossomed a little earlier than most!This was on the grounds of Ikuta Shrine in Kobe.

After the Quake: How You Can Help

Life in Japan has suddenly changed for so many. The people of northern Japan are suffering and simply in a world of hurt after Friday's magnitude 9 earthquake and following tsunami.

Many people may be surprised that I waited this long to make a blog post, but to be honest, I've been too busy with Twitter to write a blog. The news flow is fast and fluid (a little personification there) and I've honestly found that I can communicate with more people, more efficantly, through Twitter, Facebook and my video blogs. Also, my video blogs and Tweets have a much larger audience.

So, as of Monday morning, things are still really bad. Much of the coastal regions of northern Japan have been decimated and thousands dead and missing.

The people of Japan need help. If you are in Japan, you can onate money, clothes and blood, but people are being asked to stay away fromt he disaster area. I'm sure many, myself included, would love to rush to the affected areas and help with the cleanup and rebuilding, but it is simply still too dangerous. I suppose in time, people will be given the chance to go there in person and assist.

For those of you abroad, you can help by donating to several (I'm sure the list is ever growing) NGO's racing to help the Japanese people:

Canadian Red Cross

American Red Cross

Save the Children


Here is a page I found had a lot of useful information from Time Out Tokyo magazine.


Here are a few video blogs I made about it during the weekend. You can also follow my Twitter feed on the side of this page for more information:





For the time being, spreading the word to people about how to donate and help is all I can do. I do have a fairly large social media audience so I will do what I can to help that way.