Volume 5, Number 5

May 1992

RACE RELATIONS THROUGH THE CAMERA LENS:                          The Los Angeles and Toronto Riots

From the Rodney King beating to the riots in Los Angeles and Toronto, television has been the catalyst. For many observers and commentators, television played an active role intensifying the violence. The outrage at the King verdict was so strong precisely because a whole nation viewed the act through the lens of the video-camera.

Through all the analysis and commentary presented by the media into the causes and responsibility of those involved, the media rarely looked inward at the role which they played in the process. Some stories, notably in the Globe and Mail, did point out that much of the rioting resulted from the fact that the media let rioters know where the police were and where they could get away with their actions. For the most part, however, very little was said about the role of the camera in the event. With one exception. Media personnel did ask one question, either explicitly or implicitly through their own outrage from the verdict: "How could the camera lie?"

On 8 May, Rick Salutin, the Globe and Mail's Arts columnist asked the question in a slightly different way: "The videotape of King's beating by four L.A. cops seemed like a powerful, unequivocal image--a self-evident case of unnecessary brutality for any viewer. Yet the jury decided otherwise. How come?"

The answer provided by Salutin and other commentators was that people see what they want to see. The media told us that what a predominately white jury saw was not police brutality, but of a man resisting arrest. The irony of asking how the camera could lie is that rarely are the images on television provided without analysis. Television reporters use the video to highlight or give evidence to their text. For the past 14 months the video-tape of the Rodney King arrest has been used to show police brutality. In a court room, however, both sides of the story are presented, and the same piece of evidence is given different interpretations.

This issue of On Balance examines the pictures and interpretations that Canadian national television news presented on the King beating, the verdict and the ensuing violence.

CBC FOCUSES ON AFTERMATH OF RIOTS

There was a significant difference in the frequency of images that the two Canadian networks presented on the Los Angeles riots. CBC presented far more visuals of the cleanup and aftermath of the riots, whereas CTV's focus was clearly on the rioting. On CBC, 41 percent of the pictures shown were of calm restored and people attempting to rebuild their lives. Eighteen percent focused on the rioting, fires and looting. On CTV, the reverse was the case: 35 percent of the visuals showed the rioting, fires and looting. Only 19 percent showed the aftermath with calm restored.

Figure A illustrates that while CTV showed more of the riots, they did show more of the police as well. Pictures of the police comprised 12 percent of CBC and 15 percent of CTV's coverage of the riots. Of the pictures of police action, CTV presented twice as many as CBC.

Click here to view Figure A: Visuals of L.A. Riots

Rodney King Tape Highlighted in Riot Coverage

One frequently heard complaint was that the repeating of certain visuals, such as the King tape on Los Angeles television, actually incited more violence. Full edition coverage on seven local stations, several of which "described both the exact locations of the looting and the fact that police were doing little to stop it...amounted to a home-shopping network for crooks." [Jonathan Alter, (1992) "TV and the Firebell," Newsweek, May 11, p. 43.] The 6 May Globe and Mail reported one story on the role of TV on the riot. In that story, the decision of television stations to run certain pictures was examined: "Some stations initially decided against broadcasting tape of

CBC presented far more visuals of the cleanup and aftermath of the riots, whereas CTV's focus was clearly on the rioting.

motorists being assaulted, fearful it would lead to bloodshed elsewhere. Others didn't replay footage of the King beating after the acquittals for the same reason."

On Canadian national news, the Rodney King tape accounted for 11 percent of CBC and 5 percent of CTV's visuals of the riots and aftermath. The networks played the King tape to provide context into the verdict. The underlying theme was that what was seen on the tape should have resulted in an open and shut case. The incredulity that was expressed by Brian Stewart on 30 April best reflects the media's perception of itself and how it viewed the tape: "Sally Ann Stewart, probably most who saw that tape are surprised, even dumbfounded by the verdict. How about the impartial observers like yourself who actually covered the trial--same reaction?" CBC's focus on the tape was mostly recorded on 30 April, where the tape was shown once on that night's "National" and twice on the "Journal." On the "National," the videotape was

. . . the juror responded, "It clearly showed what was going on there, the fact that Rodney King was not being abused. Rodney King was directing the action."

shown in its entirety with Knowlton Nash describing the visuals. Included in the commentary was a description of the role which the video-tape played during the trail. At one point Nash states, "One expert on the use of force told the trial that every blow past this point was excessive; another said all blows were appropriate, even these." The pictures shown are of two police officers beating King with their night sticks.

The "Journal's" second story showed the tape twice. The first time was with Bill Cameron saying: "The videotape caught the police swinging their batons more than 50 times." The second time was a clip from an American television show where a juror was interviewed about the role the tape played in the trial. When the black newscaster asked his questions, the camera showed him. When the juror answered, the King tape was being played. When the interviewer asked what was the determining factor, the juror responded: "It clearly showed what was going on there, the fact that Rodney King was not being abused. Rodney King was directing the action." The pictures shown against this statement were of several officers surrounding King who was face down on the ground. Several of the officers had their feet on him with one's foot on King's head while handcuffs were being placed on him.

For CTV, repeating the King tape occupied less of the video images for that week. The tape was played against one statement which questioned the verdict in which John Beatty said: "According to a jury of non-blacks these are pictures of a black man resisting arrest."

CBC and CTV devoted 13 percent and 17 percent respectively to the King arrest and legal proceedings. The focus of the coverage questioned the techniques and evidence used by the defence. As jurors explained how they reached the verdict, the visuals portrayed the tape of the King beating. However, some analysts believe that the prosecution made errors. The networks paid little attention to the role of the prosecution in the jury selection, the reallocation of the trial, the lack of witnesses and the decision not to have King testify.

Further, despite the repeating of the tape and the analysis of the visuals, television provided no context into the background of King, or why the police had stopped him in the first place. No-

"The videotape caught the police swinging their batons more than 50 times."

where in the analysis of the verdict was King's role in the arrest mentioned. According to the Los Angeles Times, at the time of King's arrest, he was on parole for robbery. As well, King was under investigation for two robberies prior to the March arrest. This information and the implication that the police were dealing with a known criminal was never mentioned. [Timnick, Lois (1991) "Decision on King is left to State," Los Angeles Times, June 4, p. B1.]

Reginald Denny Tape Used to Show Violence Against Motorists

One of the most graphic visuals shown on the riots was when the truck driver, Reginald Denny, was seen taken out of his truck and severely beaten. The networks gave this image roughly the same attention. Both networks made it sound as though this kind of beating happened to more than one motorist. For example, on 29 April, Peter Mansbridge used the Denny tape to illustrate the violence: "People have been pulled from their vehicles and given savage beatings." Similarly, Lloyd Robertson reported on 30 April: "The violence has been brutal, with motorists pulled from their vehicles and beaten in front of the cameras

No one asked why the journalists in the helicopters did not attempt to stop the beating.

by rioting blacks." Neither network showed any motorists other than Denny being beaten.

As the media aired the Denny tape, complete with play-by-play commentary similar in tone to a wrestling match, their role was not questioned. No one asked why the journalists in the helicopters did not attempt to stop the beating. On 1 May Knowlton Nash provided a unique perspective to update the story: "The camera showed blacks attacking Denny. What it didn't show was the four blacks who helped Denny." It does seem striking that not only did the journalists fail to help the man, but they failed even to record his final fate as they left the scene to pursue another story.

COMMENTARY DESCRIBED RIOTING

Descriptions of the events comprised almost 8 in 10 statements on CBC and almost 9 in 10 statements on CTV. Not surprisingly, almost half of this coverage on CBC and half on CTV consisted of describing the rioting and violence. For example, Knowlton Nash opened the 30 April "National" with the following: "Again tonight parts of Los Angeles are in flames. There are more than a thousand fires burning as the city endures a second night of protest; 21 people have been killed and more than 400 hurt, in what now adds up to about 53 hours of raging anger, often expressed in brutal violence."

Lloyd Robertson's opening for the "CTV News" that day was similar: "Good evening. It's been a day and night of looting, arson, even random murder in Los Angeles. A day and a night of fear and mob violence tearing apart one of the major cities of North America. The numbers so far are horrific: 18 people dead, hundreds more injured, more than a thousand buildings on fire and over 100 million dollars in damage."

As figure B shows, for the most part, the coverage of the events was handled similarly by the networks. The only major difference was that CBC focused twice as much attention on the aftermath of the riots than did CTV. This difference reflects the fact that the "Journal" devoted several entire programs to the riots. These stories not only examined the riots themselves, but journalists went back to get assessments from the citizens of Los Angeles.

Click here to view Figure B: Coverage of the Riots

Could it Happen Here?

In one sense television's posing the question of whether what happened in L.A. could happen in Canada was self-fulfilling. The pictures from Los Angeles, coupled with the media's acute focus on the issue of race relations, especially after the Toronto shooting, could only reinforce the view of those involved in the demonstrations that this was a legitimate means to protest perceived social injustice.

Notably, CBC's 24 hour network, Newsworld, devoted significant airtime in their open line talk show, "Canada Live" to ask the question: "Could it happen here?" The majority of respondents said "no"--that the outrage felt by blacks in the United States was predominately the result of oppressive socio-economic conditions which did not have their counterpart in Canada. The anchor of the program, Anne Petrie, appeared to disagree with this assessment as she reminded callers that Canada was not "snow white."

RACE RELATIONS

The role which race relations played in the riots focused on how blacks are treated by society in general and by police in particular. For the L.A. riots, racism accounted for 22 percent of the causes identified by CBC and 38 percent of those identified by CTV (figure C). Similarly, coverage of the Toronto riot identified racism as the primary agent in 35 percent of CBC and 54 percent of CTV causes (figure D). The agents of racism were almost uniformly identified as the white population.

Click here to view Figure C: Causes of the L.A. Riots

Click here to view Figure D: Causes of the Toronto Riots

Although the pictures of the riots showed wide-spread rioting by predominantly blacks, the media quickly pointed out that whites were also involved in the rioting. For example, on

During the LA riot hooliganism was identified as the problem in only 3 percent of CBC and 14 percent of CTV attention on the reasons for the violence.

the 1 May "Journal," Brian Stewart asked a witness to the riots whether all the looting was done by blacks. "So you're saying not all the looting was black looting. Whites were involved as well?" Tina Schwartz responded: "That's right. It was mostly African Americans, but there were some whites."

Similarly, Lloyd Robertson pointed out during the Toronto riots, that blacks were not the only ones rioting: "In Toronto tempers began to boil, and about 400 people, black and white, went on a rampage."

White Middle Class To Blame

Despite the visuals that showed mostly blacks involved in the looting and riots, little coverage questioned the responsibility of blacks for their actions. During the L.A. riot hooliganism was identified as the problem in only 3 percent of CBC and 14 percent of CTV attention on the

"Do you think that all black people are, are not to be trusted and that we're all thieves and crooks?"

reasons for the violence. For the Toronto riots, hooliganism was identified in 6 percent of CBC and 10 percent of CTV's attention to causes.

For example, in one story, Erica Johnson of CBC Radio recounted how the mob turned against her: "I had manoeuvred my way into the crowd, and I felt someone tugging on my equipment bag, so I turned around to see what was happening, and I saw a man lifting my cellular phone out of my bag. The phone was literally out of the bag, and he was holding onto it. So I grabbed it and said, `I don't think so' and put it back in my bag and then moved this equipment bag in front of me, so I could keep an eye on it, at which point the person behind me said, `Why are you doing that? Don't you trust me? Do you think that all black people are, are not to be trusted and that we're all thieves and crooks? Is it because you think you're a white superior person? Are you a piece of white media trash? Well we think you are.' And then everyone just started chanting and saying, `Knock that bitch down to the ground,

". . . there was a lot of emotional arousal and things went out of control."

knock her down, knock her down.' They were pulling, tugging at me. People were kicking at the backs of my knees. That was a pretty good clue that things weren't going to go well."

The visuals from the riots did not support the commentary that whites were involved in the looting and rioting. The pictures predominately showed blacks looting and rioting in the streets. The media pointed out that this was due to the racist attitudes of the whites. This was exemplified on the 4 May "Journal" when Susan Harada went into a middle-class white neighbourhood to ask a group of residents whether they felt responsible for the riots: "What about being white in this city right now? Do you feel any, do you feel guilty? Do you feel any sense of remorse? Do you, how do you feel? How do you handle it?" No similar question was asked of a black about the riot.

During the L.A. riots, what was shown was black Americans destroying the businesses of other blacks and of Korean-Americans. The pictures showed the racism of the blacks, not against the whites, but against the Koreans. Even in these cases, the blacks were not outwardly blamed for the destruction. The reason for the destruction of Korea town was the fear of the Koreans succeeding in black neighbourhoods.

In the same story where the whites were asked about their responsibility for the riots, a black man talked about his concerns regarding the Koreans in the neighbourhood. "I don't care if this a, a, a, Oriental, or whether who it is, they come into a black neighbourhood to get rich."

Toronto Riots Caused by Disenfranchised Youth

While coverage of both the Los Angeles and Toronto riots focused on racism as the cause of the riots, Canadian analysts argued that the destruction in Toronto also was due to disenfranchised youth. For example, on the 5 May "Journal," Esther Cole, a psychologist with the Toronto Board of Education, said: "What we saw is a combination of a peaceful demonstration, marginal youth joining, taking advantage of the fact that they are in a crowd, alienated youth, disillusioned youth who do not see the street of Toronto the way they see their neighbourhoods and their homes, who feel disenfranchised, who are desensitized to violence, and consequently there was a lot of emotional arousal and things went out of control."

Similarly, on the 5 May CTV News, Lloyd Robertson stated: "Community

"They were pulling, tugging at me. People were kicking at the backs of my knees. That was a pretty good clue that things weren't going to go well."

leaders say there are a number of factors involved, including a disproportionate amount of harassment and unemployment, all leading to disenfranchisement not seen in other communities."

The category of social problems included general statements about how the federal and municipal governments have failed to deal with the problems. In addition, the networks focused on the poverty and unemployment of the black community in the United States as one of the reasons for the violence. Both networks pointed out the statistics of

". . . right now, 34% of the black population is still living below the official poverty line in the United States."

black poverty. For example on the 1 May "Journal," a professor of psychiatry at Harvard University explained: "No. I think that they're worse in the sense that the high levels of poverty are still there. Right now, 34 percent of the black population is still living below the official poverty line in the United States. So, in actuality, there are actually more people who are poor in the black community than that official lines suggest. So the same economic conditions, and right now we're going through this serious recession, so unemployment rates are predictably double white rates."

Similarly, on the 30 April "CTV News" Lloyd Robertson recounted the statistics: "Almost 30 years later, race relations experts say blacks are still falling behind. Their incomes are less than 60 percent of white incomes. Blacks make up 12 percent of the U.S. population, but 40 percent of the prison population. With Los Angeles burning again, they say the civil rights revolution has sputtered to a halt."

BLACKS RECEIVED MOST TELEVISION TIME

The most frequent source used in the riots were those at the centre of the rioting. Black individuals comprised almost one-third of CBC and over one-quarter of CTV sources' statements. Whites were interviewed in 7 percent of both networks' coverage. Koreans were presented in only 4 and 5 percent of CBC's and CTV's coverage respectively.

Members of the police force received slightly more attention than did Koreans, comprising 9 percent of CBC and 5 percent of CTV attention (figure E).

Click here to view Figure E: Sources Used in Riot Coverage

The second most frequent source interviewed were other journalists. In addition to providing their assessments of the riots, they presented stories about how the media were treated in the riots. CBC focused on these stories in the 5 May "Journal" after the Toronto riot.

METHODOLOGY

Results on Riots are based the 20 "National," 19 "Journal," and 4 "Sunday Report" stories as well as 23 "CTV National News" stories which appeared during the week of April 29 to May 5 1992. All stories appearing during that time were coded, representing a total population rather than a random sample of stories.

Further information or details on the coding design and methods may be obtained by contacting the National Media Archive.

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Last Modified: Wednesday, October 20, 1999.