Race, Rage, and Unrest in the Video Age: A Historical Analysis of the Los Angeles 1992 Civil Unrest

The Los Angeles civil unrest of 1992 is categorized as one of the most destructive episodes of civil disturbances in U.S. history and one of the first domestic crisis to be broadcast live on television. In fact, in television, in newspapers, and even, in a relatively new phenomenon, broadcast home video, the uprising developed in response to images and arguments put forth in the media. Since the uprising occurred, there have been multiple analysts that identify the critical role that mass media had before during and after the unrest. This thesis adds to this scholarship by examining the response to the raw videos and the events associated with the uprising in more “traditional” print media with a comparative analysis of the Los Angeles Times and three Los Angeles ethnic newspapers-- The Korea Times, which serves the Korean American community, the Los Angeles Sentinel which serves the African American community, and La Opinión which serves the Latin American community. After a brief discussion of the history of these newspapers, this thesis then examines how the local ethnic newspapers in Los Angeles and the mainstream Los Angeles Times reacted to the Rodney King video, the Latasha Harlins video, and the images and narratives that were put forward in the mainstream television media during the civil unrest, and how these newspapers responded similarly or differently from their “traditional” reporting during this fast paced, media- driven crisis. Although each newspaper followed a different path trying to report on these events, all of them to one degree or another eventually felt forced to address the power of these videos and incorporate these videos in their reporting.