‘Whatever the thing may be called’: The Australian news media and the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki

Abstract

While there is an extensive literature dealing with the ethics and commemoration of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, media responses to the bomb at the time of its deployment have received little attention, particularly in Australia. This article examines Australian media coverage of the bombing during August and September 1945 and argues that it was marked by introspection and anxiety rather than sensationalism or celebration. Though the political climate in which Australians received news of the bomb was characterised by strong anti‐Japanese sentiment and concerns about national security, this was not reflected in unequivocal approval of the atomic bombing in contemporary media coverage. Commentators struggled to articulate the new phenomenon and to deal with its implications. In doing so, they departed substantially from the pattern of war journalism that had prevailed throughout the conflict.