How a nuclear test that never happened became news |
A US allegation that China conducted a secret nuclear test was widely reported despite clear evidence to the contrary, highlighting how security claims are too often treated as facts before they are proven.
There used to be a simple rule in newsrooms: allegation is not evidence.
It’s not that difficult to understand. You just don’t treat a claim as a fact until someone, somewhere, had actually proven it.
Lately, though, this rule seems to have acquired a quiet footnote: for example, allegation from our sheriff is probably close enough.
Recently, the United States alleged that China secretly ran a nuclear weapon test six years ago, as a senior American official stood up at a Geneva disarmament conference and gave a date – 22 June, 2020. Our most trusted public broadcaster, the ABC, quickly carried the Reuters wire. While our major private network, Sky News, brought in a former defence official to explain why it all sounded plausible.
Neither mentioned the most trustworthy organisation on Earth whose sole job is to detect nuclear explosions.
And that’s the problem.
The Comprehensive........