At first, the Soviets said nothing about it.

Only after Moscow officials were pressured by Sweden for an explanation of the sudden increase in radioactivity that Sweden detected, did the Soviet Council of Ministers issue the following statement through the Soviet News Agency Tass: "An accident has occurred at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant as one of the reactors was damaged." Measures are being taken to eliminate the consequences of the accident. Aid is being given to those affected. A government commission has been set up."

The Soviets had withheld all information about the accident for over 36 hours and still did not reveal the scope of the disaster when they did finally acknowledge what had happened.

We now believe that "at least 27 cities and villages near the Chernobyl nuclear plant are too contaminated by radioactivity to be resettled in the foreseeable future; and that "the radiation released stretched world wide (1). We also know that the explosion an

"Some news agencies in the West are spreading rumors that thousands of people, allegedly perished during the accident at the atomic power station. It has already been reported that in reality two persons died, that only 197 people were hospitalized. Forty-nine of them were discharged from the hospital after a medical examination. Enterprises, collective farms and state farms and institutions are functioning normally."

However, such criticisms are considered "Official Reaction", our third perspective. The words and official actions in response to the disaster, by other officials around the world would also fall into this category, including criticisms of the Soviet Union by then Vice President George Bush.

The 2139 square inches of space filled by The Christian Science Monitor's treatment of the disaster was 25 percent hard news on May 1st, and 74.6 percent related stories. Rounding accounts for any total less than 100 percent. The conclusion is obvious. Most of our Chernobyl news coverage in the newspapers examined may not be actual news, but rather, information offered in support of the news. What we know for certain about the disaster in the Soviet Union, is that we really don't know very much for certain, but that apparently was not an impediment to venting anti-Soviet sentiment under the guise of supposedly objective news reporting.

(4). Chicago Tribune Wires-Moscow "Soviet reactor spews cloud of death fears", Chicago Tribune, April

Zealand", Chicago Tribune, April 29,1986,p.12, cols 2,3,4,5,6.

(9). Ronald Kotulak,"Thousands of deaths predicted", Chicago Tribune, April 30,1986, p.17,col 1,2,3,4.

Some common words found in the essay are:
Science Monitor, Chicago Tribune, Statement April, Soviet Union, Council Ministers, Agency Tass, Soviet Union-people, Michael Deaver, Tribune April, Reports Soviet, christian science, christian science monitor, science monitor, chicago tribune, soviet union, chernobyl nuclear, power station, related stories, tribune christian, tribune april, nuclear power, tribune christian science, chicago tribune april, chicago tribune christian, chernobyl nuclear power,
Approximate Word count = 3073
Approximate Pages = 12 (250 words per page double spaced)