Re: Why is it...., Part 2

[BLHamrick@AOL.COM]

In a message dated Fri, 1 Feb 2002  3:48:24 PM Eastern Standard Time,

"Westerdale, Bob" <bwesterdale@edax.com> writes:



<<then they trot out the 'experts' to comment on

the prearranged conclusion that the plane will destroy the containment and

 the resulting mess will force 

 most of the US population to relocate to Antarctica.  One would like to

 assume in these prearranged TV 'debates' that both sides would be fairly

 represented.  One guy who would say the Plant will be completely shredded,

 and the other will say the plane will bounce off. What concerns me is that

 the Anti-Nuke pundits seem very well prepared, well rehearsed, and able to

 strike fear in the hearts of the viewers.  On the other side,  The Pro-Nuke

 guy is unprepared, speaks poorly, looks like Mom dressed him,  and does a

 really dismal job of presenting the case for minimal consequences in an

 attack.  >>



I see this happen all the time.  One problem is that the anti-nuke "experts"

are rarely "experts" in the sense that they don't actually have scientific

degrees, so they needn't be bothered by facts and statistics.



A second problem is that these issues are brought to the media by the

anti-nukes, who sensationalize their issues to get the coverage.  This

appeals to the media, who then goes out to find a "pro-nuke," who doesn't

particularly want TV coverage, who does actually care about facts and

statistics, and who can't, due to his own integrity, bring himself to say

things like, "nukes are 100% safe!" to balance the other side's contention

that brimstone and hellfire are only a hair's breadth away from anyone within

100s of miles of a nuclear plant.



It will never be a balanced debate under these circumstances, because one

side throws facts to the wind and relies on hyperbole to get media attention,

and the other side just has boring facts that don't play well on TV.



Barbara L. Hamrick

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