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Public Relations Meltdown: The Two Disasters at Chernobyl
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10998 |
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Section : |
CURRENT ISSUES
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Date : |
6 / 1986 |
2,764 Words |
| Author
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Kirsten O. Lundberg
Kirsten O. Lundberg is a free-lance writer who was formerly
based in the Soviet Union while working for United Press
International. |
The Soviet Unions' world reputation has just suffered a disastrous blow from the fallout--both radioactive and political--of the Chernobyl nuclear meltdown. Faced with worried demands from the world community for information and cooperation, the Kremlin stonewalled with cursory and contradictory statements. Soviet spokesmen lied, denied, and accused.
The Western public has found it difficult to understand why the Soviet Union would be so secretive regarding a matter of grave concern to its own citizens as well as to the rest of the world. Why wait two days to announce the accident? Why issue no warnings, in Kiev? Why turn down worldwide offers of assistance.
The dilemma with which the Soviet leadership always struggles when it is thrust into the limelight of world publicity is that the Western world, unlike the Soviet population, demands information quickly. Faced with an information vacuum, Western media speculate as to what might be happening. As generations of Western correspondents in Moscow have complained: "If they don't give us access to accurate information, then they have only themselves to blame if reports are not always correct." With each ensuing crisis, the Soviet Union is learning more about how to manage information to its own best advantage. But is has a long way to go.
In fact, the Soviets have rarely been so forthcoming so quickly with information on a disaster. Ironically, by their own standards their performance regarding Chernobyl has been exemplary. To understand why this is so, it is important to remember that most accidents in the Soviet Union are never publicized. In fact, there is a strong possibility that, had
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