It’s of critical importance—indeed, existential importance—to the world: the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. And a coalition of peace organizations in the United States is charging that media are acting like the treaty “does not exist.”
The Nuclear Ban Treaty Collaborative is waging a campaign to encourage press coverage of the treaty, which, it argues, “provides the only pathway to a safe, secure future free of the nuclear threat” (Oak Ridge Environmental Peace Alliance Newsletter, 6/22).
In the words of the UN, the treaty is “a legally binding instrument to prohibit nuclear weapons, leading towards their total elimination.” It was adopted by the UN General Assembly—with 122 nations in favor—and opened for signature in 2017. It was entered into force in January 2021.
But its provisions only apply to nations which are party to it. Countries with nuclear weapons—including the United States, Russia and China—have not. Instead, “so far, they have refused, boycotted meetings, and even pressured countries not to sign on,” the Federation of American Scientists has noted (FAS, 1/22/09).
Media attention vital
Media attention is vital if the TPNW is to become a reality. But as the Oak Ridge Environmental Peace Alliance (OREPA), a member of the Collaborative, explained in its June newsletter:
The last time the New York Times mentioned the TPNW was October of 2020, when Honduras became the 50th nation to ratify the Treaty, triggering its Entry in Force. In all the coverage of nuclear weapons since then, including a surge since Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine, the TPNW has not been mentioned once.
National Public Radio has had four significant reports about nuclear weapons in the last three months, including a seven minute report on Sunday, March 27. None of the reports mentioned the TPNW—the last time NPR mentioned it was in January 2021 when it reported on the Treaty’s entry into force, noting it was a significant treaty becoming international law. Since then, crickets.
CNN is marginally better. A search of the website for “nuclear weapons” turns up almost daily reports; but the Treaty on the Prohibition on Nuclear Weapons gets only one mention—an op-ed on May 3 from Ira Helfand, co-president of International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War.
The Collaborative is calling for media to cover the treaty whenever reporting on the threat of nuclear weapons.
Plenty of nuclear talk
Ralph Hutchison, coordinator of OREPA, said in an interview:
What became alarming was that there was a revival of coverage of nuclear weapons after Vladimir Putin made his threat. In all those articles we seemed to be locked into Cold War thinking which ignores the reality that an alternative to “mutually assured destruction” exists: the Treaty for the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. And yet there was nothing.
Indeed, according to a search of the Nexis news database, US newspapers have mentioned “nuclear weapons” 5,243 times between February 24, when Putin began talking about their potential use in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and August 4. Only 43 of those times included a mention of the treaty; the great majority of these were letters to the editor or opinion columns.
This comes against the backdrop of the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists in 2020 moving its “Doomsday Clock” forward to 100 seconds to midnight, where it has remained through today. It defines midnight as “nuclear annihilation.” This was the closest to midnight the clock has been set at since it was created in 1947 (1/20/22).
“Let’s eliminate these weapons before they eliminate us,” said UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres at the conclusion in June of a “Political Declaration and Action Plan” for implementation of the TPNW—“important steps,” he said, “toward our shared goal of a world free of nuclear weapons” (UN Press, 6/21/22).
Guterres went on:
Today, the terrifying lessons of Hiroshima and Nagasaki are fading from memory. The once‑unthinkable prospect of nuclear conflict is now back within the realm of possibility…. In a world rife with geopolitical tensions and mistrust, this is a recipe for annihilation.
We cannot allow the nuclear weapons wielded by a handful of states to jeopardize all life on our planet. We must stop knocking at doomsday’s door. The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons is an important step towards the common aspiration of a world without nuclear weapons.
Can the atomic genie be put back in the bottle? Anything people have done, other people can undo. And the prospect of massive loss of life from nuclear destruction is the best of reasons.
There’s a precedent: the outlawing of chemical warfare after World War I, when its terrible impacts were horrifically demonstrated, killing 90,000. The Geneva Protocol of 1925 and the Chemicals Weapons Convention of 1933 outlawed chemical warfare, and to a large degree the prohibition has held.
As Pope Francis said on a visit to Nagasaki in 2019, in which he condemned the “unspeakable horror” of nuclear weapons: “A world without nuclear weapons is possible and necessary.”
To learn more about or join the Collaborative’s ongoing media activism campaign, please visit https://www.nuclearbantreaty.org/
Anderson Robert L
Well said Karl, we have needed your voice on this to bring some sanity into the situation.
Thanks,
Bob
José Balart
No, as mentioned, the atomic genie can’t be put back into the bottle. Sadly, things and events have taken a decidedly bad turn this year. Iran will test a nuclear weapon very soon. North Korea is a total wildcard and could strike at any time. Don’t be surprised if Taiwan, South Korea and Ukraine all produce a nuclear weapon within the next year as all three feel very threatened and all have the technical capabilities. Its the ultimate Ace of Spades after all.
John Wheat Gibson
“Iran will test a nuclear weapon very soon. North Korea is a total wildcard and could strike at any time.” Brother Balart provides no evidence to support his slanders. Iran by fatwa is forbidden to develop nuclear weapons, and there is no evidence that it is in the process. North Korea is a wild card because it slaughtered 5 1/2 million Vietnamese in Vietnam, invaded Panama and Grenada, bombed Yugoslavia, killed at least 1,000,000 Iraqis in Iraq, stations military in Syria to steal the oil, invaded Afghanistan, bombed Libya–the most prosperous nation in Africa, now in rubble– and funded Contra terrorists against Nicaragua…. Wait a minute, Jose, was that really North Korea, now threatening all life on earth? Tell us about the “wild card.”
José Balart
Wuhaha. Here’s the good news brother JW Gibson. WHEN Iran threatens or launches a nuke, Israeli will deal with them appropriately. As for all the other stated supposition, propaganda and over all BS, none of it is worthy of an intelligent or a comprehensive response. Do yourself a favor, take your head out of the sand and cutback on the drug use too
Rebecca Turner
In the meantime, Israel – as with all other governments illegally possessing nuclear weapons of mass destruction – needs to destroy its own stockpile instead of threatening a catastrophe which would rapidly spiral out of its control. Your far-right snark and refusal to debate using reason and evidence make you a poor person to contribute anything to this. As is typical of the fascist mind, you use contempt and mockery instead of sober argument.
José Balart
Yea, it’s folks like you and your “refusal to debate using reason and evidence. ” as you are in total denial about the real world. Fact – you denial about the facts relative to Putin invading Georgia, annexed Ukraine’s Crimea peninsula, murdering Russian dissidents and intervened in the U.S. presidential election in 2016. Each time, the U.S. avoided major confrontation, partly out of a worry that it could spark a larger war. Putin, viewing the U.S. and Western Europe as weak, responded last year with a full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
If China believes the U.S. won’t ultimately come to Taiwan’s defense, the chances of an invasion may increase.
Mychael Schnell
Jose, consider yourself fortunate. While Rebecca called you a fascist, she didn’t go down the familiar and typical hateful path of labeling you a racist, misogyny or a white supremacist. The frequent problem with this web site and all social media is it follows the circular argument of the Twitter world. They assume everyone reading Fair.com agrees with every written thought they jot down. Of course, everyone doesn’t but they still pretend to be right about everything. You know, its easy to be a bully and simply call people names.
Bonnie Salkind
Yes Jose, the hater’s attack and gonna hate … nothing you can do.
Bradley Grower
Jose,
How many disaster movies & FPS video games consumed per week?
Mychael,
Are you aware snide, passive-aggressive remarks are bullying too?
Bonnie,
Donald Trump may have some work for you writing T-shirt slogans.
Any more senseless comments and misdirection for this thread?
Veronica Ouzounian
And finally, we have self-appointed, self-important site minder, Bradley Grower weighing in, thereby proving and confirming, Bonnie and Mychael points. When you are virtuous and smartest kid in the city, you actually believe you know it all. A legend in his own mind, he doesn’t dare offer a position or thought but always undermines others comments with his narrow-minded view and useless comments. He trolls this site frequently, acts like a bully and simply just calls people names. Nothing behind the curtain with him.
Bradley Grower
Actually Veronica, I don’t mind(er) at all. Can Y-OOOO-UUUU dig it?
Chris
The USA killed one in five Koreans in the Korean wa
r. “Over a period of three years or so, we killed off — what — 20 percent of the population,” Air Force Gen. Curtis LeMay, head of the Strategic Air Command during the Korean War, told the Office of Air Force History in 1984. Dean Rusk, a supporter of the war and later secretary of state, said the United States bombed “everything that moved in North Korea, every brick standing on top of another.”
In the past twenty years the USA has killed civilians in about a dozen countries, about the million.
Ira Dember
Thanks for spotlighting what is virtually a Mob-like omertà, a code of silence, among media regarding the nuclear treaty now in force.
There’s a domestic US parallel: universal healthcare. Almost daily, media cover the lethal shortcomings of US health policy — but rarely remind audiences even in passing that legislation is pending in Congress. HR 1976, the Medicare for All Act of 2021, is co-sponsored by a majority of House Dems including powerful committee chairs like Frank Pallone (NJ-6). Out of sight, out of mind.
The less public awareness, the less voters demand their elected officials to take action — one of several reasons progress toward enactment has been painfully slow.
Meanwhile, smothered by silence, people die. See my comments posted here: https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/08/04/dont-celebrate-record-low-uninsured-rate-yet
Alissa Reed
“Why Is There More Media Talk About Using Nuclear Weapons Than About Banning Them?” Well that’s pretty simple: people / world leaders / entire countries cheat, lie, kill and do whatever they need to do in order to stay in power. The mass media is in bed with them (see Trump, as an excellent example)
Bradley Grower
AGREED!
Arthur Milholland
Regrettably, when President Biden visited Pope Francis, our Holy Father did not tell Mr. Biden to abolish nuclear weapons. He did not tell him in person what he tells the world, that the use of Nuclear Weapons, as well as their mere possession, is immoral. He did not say one cannot build and possess and target nuclear weapons and still be a good Catholic.
Bradley Grower
But… did he give him communion, or a rim-job?
Veronica Ouzounian
See my above comment on this Grower troll clown …
Not only is this response disrespectful but it confirms the mindless nature and outlandishness of all his responses.
Bradley Grower
My pious offering of appeasement to all of those offended by such humor.
Now maybe… you could give it a rest, eh?
Gary Fitzgerald
Since the U.S. is not a signature of the treaty, it makes sense that the U.S. press would ignore it. If only we had an independent press.
Bradley Grower
They’d just end up getting tracked down and executed like in Mexico.
Aliens Were Here and Kept Going
‘If you were an advanced civilization – say a million years ahead of Earth – and were flying by the planet you’d probably be able to detect its technology…..you might even scan the Earth for any defense systems….but once you saw that all of Earth’s defense systems were not aimed up at space to guard against cosmic threats but how they’re all aimed inward at itself….you’d probably think the people of Earth were not very intelligent.’
– ufologist Billy Carson
Bradley Grower
That might help explain the existential desperation of the black Nike crowd of 1997.
Carlton Meyer
All this is summarized in this short video.
Bradley Grower
Another fine example proving the spirit of Smedley Butler still survives in the Corps!
peter mcloughlin
All the evidence – and the pattern of history – points to another world war. Unless that is stated clearly there is no prospect of averting it.
https://patternofhistory.wordpress.com/
Bradley Grower
While commenting, by copying the url of your publication into the “Website” window, you allow readers to access your writing just by clicking on the screen name you use.
peter mcloughlin
Thanks for that advice
Pink and Blue Prince
The US could lead the way to abolish nuclear weapons by dismantling them, ending all its wars and shutting down its bases in other lands. It could negotiate with Russia and Ukraine to end the war there and work on ending tension with China and ending tension between China and Taiwan. It could end tension in the ME by ending aid to Israel and negotiating peace between Israel and the Arabs including Palestinians and end the embargoes of Cuba and Venezuela. It could recognize Maduro and not Guaido as Venezuela’s leader. Foreign countries do not pick the USA’s leaders, the USA should not pick the leaders of foreign nations.
John L
Give peace a chance …. smoke pot, smoke pot, everybody smoke pot
Raymond Wilson
What is the incentive for adoption of the ICAN Treaty?