Australian press coverage of the 1995 Mururoa nuclear test

The1995 Mururoa nuclear test was at once a regional, global and, in its Australian press coverage, a distinctly Australian media event. Press coverage reflects this interpenetration of regional, global, and domestic concerns. This paper analyses coverage in The Australian and The Sydney Morning Herald from three perspectives. Firstly, it places the coverage in the context of the total international news output of these newspapers in the week of the test. A comparison is made with British coverage of international news in the same week. Secondly, the nature of the coverage itself is analysed in terms of story type, main actors, story perspective, and sources. Thirdly, the paper examines the role of the South Pacific paradise myth as a backdrop against which eventswere interpreted.