Framing Environmental Injustice: PFAS and Jet Fuel Contamination Coverage in Jon Mitchell Investigates

This paper discusses Jon Mitchell’s English-language coverage in Okinawa Times of the problems of water and soil contamination by per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) and jet fuel which leaked from US military bases in Okinawa, mainland Japan, and in Hawai’i. Reportage of the environmental contamination derived from US military presence has been obfuscated by different framing effects in the US media which often emphasizes the US-Japan military alliance. However, Mitchell’s thematic framing of environmental injustice in Okinawa highlights the history of environmental contamination in Okinawa and the military and political difficulties that hinder the resolution of these problems. His coverage demonstrates a “journalism of care” based on “Ethics of Care” reporting from the standpoint of vulnerable people whose health and lives have been jeopardized by environmental contamination. He has kept his investigation intact with solid open data and documents acquired through the United States Freedom of Information Act (USFOIA) and interviews with local citizens, professionals, and medical researchers. I conclude that more work like his, in conjunction with a different media framing to show the historical and political aspects of this issue, is key to addressing difficult realities about environmental contamination which originate in the US military presence in Okinawa and its deleterious effects on the islanders’ health and lives.