INTRODUCTION
In this modern epoch, information is just a push of a button away as compared to aeons back where people either have to acquire information through word of mouth which may be highly unreliable or flip through hundreds of written articles and books just to obtain a single piece of valued information. Information is without a doubt within the grasp of every single individual and there is no excuse for anyone to not be up to date concerning current events. News in this present age travels as fast as lightning across the global communication system, which is the internet via news portals, e-mails, social networks and other network facilities that are made available. No news is latest news when there are so many global and local phenomenons that occur every single second and is immediately reported within the next few minutes. Social interactions within a society enables information and news to be exchanged and thus, allowing curiosity to flow simultaneously with research as some news are too good to be true and might seem ridiculous.
One of the many current issues being faced by Malaysians this day revolves around the multi-million company, Lynas Corporations Limited. News on Lynas Corporations opening a plant (Lynas Advanced Materials Plant) in Gebeng, Kuantan spread like wild fire through the local newspapers and the internet as many Malaysians protested against the plans of Lynas Corporations and the Malaysian Government that approved the company’s rare earth waste disposal on Malaysian land. Fear swept through the country as many were devastated to relive the incident of Bukit Merah and to see the radioactive effects that will take its toll on the upcoming generations. Malaysian citizens did not hesitate to equ...
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...how support or disagreement towards the government and Lynas. This comes down to what messages did the senders convey and what did the receivers understand of the messages sent to them.
Works Cited
About Lynas, Foundations for the Future. (19 March, 2012). Retrieved from Lynas Corporation Ltd: http://www.lynascorp.com/category.asp?category_id=2
Beck, A., Bennett, P., & Wall, P. (2004). Communication Studies: The Essential Introduction (2 ed.). London: Routledge.
British Geological Survey, Royal Society of Chemistry. (2012, March 19). What are 'rare earths' used for? Retrieved from BBC News: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-17357863
Malaysia Today: Lynas Rare Earth Plant - Worst Decision Ever? (2012, March 27). Retrieved from Malaysia Today Web Site: http://www.malaysia-today.net/mtcolumns/letterssurat/47519-lynas-rare-earth-plant-worst-decision-ever
"What Are the Social and Economic Costs of the Chernobyl Accident?" GreenFacts. Web. 19 Mar. 2011. .
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Gould, Peter. Fire in the Rain: The Democratic Consequences of Chernobyl. The Johns Hopkins University Press: Baltimore, 1990.
Chernobyl, one word that still strikes pain and fear in the hearts of many, even after 28 years is still causing serious damage. It was largest nuclear disaster ever, Chernobyl was “. . . about 400 times more potent than the bomb dropped on Hiroshima during World War II . . .” (Walmsley “26 years on: helping Chernobyl's children”). The disaster was not immediately seen as a large threat, and this is why so many lives were taken or destroyed.
The Chernobyl accident is to this day one the worst nuclear accident ever along with the Fukushima nuclear power plant, with the difference that the Chernobyl accident was handled terribly by the government. The disaster occurred on April 26 of 1986, when a cut of power supply was being simulated and a sudden surge of power in the reactor 4 of the nuclear power plant generated the overheating of the reactor core that caused the detonation of hydrogen built up in its internal parts. This caused a tremendous increase in the level of ionizing radiation in much of Europe. The Chernobyl accident was going to happen sooner or later. Operational standards, as well as design, construction without a containment vessel and quality control of nuclear power were handled by Communist Party political criteria, not technical and economic criteria. Operators did not have to meet strict safety standards and ensure the plant against any type of risk by paying higher premiums because the plants belonged to the state, not like the way is done in Europe, USA and Japan were those safety standards are strictly controlled.
Vigil, Tammy R., ed. Introduction to the World of Communications. 1st ed. Cognella, 2013. 159.
In addition to the plant, the governments related in India that issued permits and provided incentives for the plant, Bhopal community officials who permitted slum dwellers to move near the plant in illegal settlements, Indian environmental and safety inspectors should also be responsible for this. The governments related in India issued permits because people need jobs, or people would starve to death. This was one reason in my opinion. Soft money from Union Carbide plant may be another reason for issuing permits. It was clearly that the governments in America would not issue a permit to Union Carbide plant under such circumstances, which lacked of severe environmental standards and permitted slum dwellers to live near the plant and so on. Such actions were the fuses leading to more deaths. Before the major gas leakage from the MCI unit on December 3, 1984, some people were killed because of phosgene gas leakage. However, no one took it seriously in spite of the report by media. One of the reasons that people ignore this was because people didn¡¦t know the potential danger of the chemical plant. The other reason was that there are not enough environmental inspectors to cover so many plants in India. Besides, those inspectors had a record of loose enforcement. Consequently, danger emerged just as the saying goes ¡§Nothing comes of nothing.¡¨
Griffin, Emory A. (2009). Chapter 3: Weighing the Words. A first look at communication theory(7th ed., pp. 27-29). Singapore: McGraw-Hill Education (Asia).
Current events are changing faster as how the world has been rotated, and on how the media spread a report of what is happening around. It is complicated to deal with every tragedy and rumors or unconfirmed/ false information that people heard every day. Until the time will come that they are going to expect different stories with the same subject, and will end losing interest. However, despite that, the life of every individual is changing
Griffin, E. (1997). A First Look at Communication, Third Edition. New York: The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
Hartley, John (2002), Communication, Cultural and Media Studies: The Key Concepts, London, Routledge, pp. 19-21.
West, Richard, & Turner, Lynn H. (2000). Introducing Communication Theory: Analysis and Application. Mountain View, CA: Mayfield publishing.
Griffin, E. A. (1997). A first look at communication theory (3rd ed). The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
Nearly three decades ago, the Union Carbide pesticide plant in Bhopal India had a devastated tragedy. The toxic chemical and methyl isocyanate gas leak from the plant killed thousands of civilians who were sleeping and injured hundreds of thousands of people in the nearby neighborhood. For those who survived from this catastrophic incident had injuries ranging from blindness to suffering burns of the skins. The cause of this accident was due to the lack of safety standards and the decision making of Management of Union Carbide in the U.S and management in India in which it played a huge role on how this incident unfold and the many lives that were affected by this horrific accident. The Union Carbide manager in India’s overlooked at safety issues that could have clued them to the problem that needed to be resolved. And if management had a high priority for the safety of their employee’s well-being instead of profit, this situation could have been avoided. After the incident, it was a matter of who was responsible and who will compensate for the injured victims.
Union Carbide. (2013). Frequently asked questions regarding the Bhopal tragedy of 1984. Retrieved from http://bhopal.com/