In the aftermath of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, journalists struggled to cover the devastation in a way that resonated, much as they have with the covid-19 pandemic today. In Fallout: The Hiroshima Cover-up and the Reporter Who Revealed It to the World, Lesley M.M. Blume tells the story of how New Yorker journalist John Hersey cracked the code.
On this week’s Kicker, Kyle Pope, editor and publisher of CJR, and Blume discuss the problem with coverage that focuses too much on numbers, science, and policy, at a time when covid deaths in the US continue to surge.
SHOW NOTES
How to cover a fast-moving pandemic, Kyle Pope, CJR
As the COVID death toll grows, so do the obituary pages, Ari Goldman, CJR
What has journalism learned from the pandemic? Amanda Darrach, CJR
PREVIOUSLY: How will Trump’s followers fight for airtime?
Amanda Darrach is a contributor to CJR and a visiting scholar at the University of St Andrews School of International Relations. Follow her on Twitter @thedarrach.