Medialne życie katastrofy. Przypadek wybuchu w Czarnobylskiej Elektrowni Jądrowej

Among all known disasters, cataclysms and catastrophes, the explosion at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant holds a particular place in human memory. There are several reasons for that. Firstly, as one of the largest industrial disasters in history, it was an incident of truly global reach that put citizens of many countries at risk. Secondly, people were suddenly forced to confront with an invisible enemy, one that raises the greatest fear, which made that fight extremely uneven. Thirdly, the explosion occurred at a specific moment in history and in a specific country, as a result of which relevant information, limited as it was, was released to the public with a significant delay, with some events of 26 April 1986 not fully explained until today. These are probably only a few reasons why this catastrophe continues to stir emotions even after 30 years. The aim of the discussion presented here is to find the source of the current increase in interest in Chernobyl, analyse media discourse associated with disasters and predict their possible effects.