Atoms and empty space : media and the most dangerous scientific experiments in Australia

Abstract

This thesis examines aspects of the British nuclear tests in Australia to draw conclusions about the role played by media scientific literacy in the conduct of democratic government. Democracy cannot function fully if media practitioners do not recognise scientific knowledge as being central to investigating and reporting on issues of national importance and therefore do not develop their knowledge bases and frame their activities accordingly. This principle is illustrated by an examination of the nuclear tests, in which the absence of scientific literacy among media had long-term ramifications. Media coverage of the entire British nuclear tests including the Vixen B plutonium tests at Maralinga took place in two distinct eras: the first during the time of the tests and later when the Australian media rediscovered the nuclear test series and re-opened it for enquiry. The strong contrasts that emerge in Australian media output at the time of the tests, from 1952 to 1963, compared with the later era of media rediscovery from 1978 to 1993, suggest that between the eras the media came to develop greater capacity to undertake informed and investigative coverage of complex science-based topics and therefore were able to report fully on the tests only in the later era. The case study supports the argument that scientifically literate "fourth estate" journalists are an indispensable element of democracy. If such media capacity does not exist, the resulting lack of public understanding about events such as those at Maralinga inevitably leads to unaccountable government and undemocratic practices.