The catastrophe of the earthquake, the tsunami and the crippled nuclear power plant on March 11 posed an unprecedented challenge of crisis communication with the world. Those in charge were faced with the difficult choice between calming the public by presenting an optimistic scenario that could lead to complacency, and preparing for emergencies by painting a worst-case scenario that could cause panic. They seemed to take the middle course.
The world was watching Japan with acute concern. The media-relations people in the Cabinet Office, the Foreign Ministry, the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency, etc., were working very hard for information transparency through their almost daily foreign press briefings. To dispel the images of an "unsafe Japan" created by some members of the foreign media, unambiguous, forceful messages rather than detailed factual accounts were called for, but they were not easy to come by in a fast-moving situation.
The demonstrated resilience of the victims of the earthquake and the tsunami presented a positive image abroad with their calmness, orderliness and perseverance. Sir Howard Stringer, chairman of Sony Corporation, said on CNN's Fareed Zakaria's GPS (Global Public Square) show on March 20, "Japan will rebuild with a ferocity the world will not have seen."
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