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On Anniversary, Koreans Still Scarred by Coverage of Rodney King Riots
On the anniversary of the riots in Los Angeles that followed the Rodney King verdict, a Korean-American comments on the lessons learned by media on covering racially charged issues. Kapson Yim Lee reports on the Korean community for New America Media from Los Angeles.
LOS ANGELES--As we mark the 14th anniversary of the Los Angeles riots on April 29, or Sa-yi Gu (4/29) as it is known among Koreans, my thoughts turn to the plight of Koreans and their difficult American journey. The riots were the most traumatic event in the 103-year history of people of Korean ancestry in the United States.
As an immigrant who grew up in Los Angeles' Koreatown, I have strong feelings about what happened. The L.A. riots were a glaring example of racial prejudice against Koreans.
Who victimized these first-generation immigrants?
The culprit was the mainstream American news media. Their biased and shallow reporting usually began with the Los Angeles Times, which set the tone in the city. Wire services, television networks and radio outlets all followed the Times.
I observed the local news media focus on inner-city merchant-customer disputes as a racially charged conflict between African-Americans and Korean-Americans. That reached a high point when Soon Ja Du, a Korean-American shopkeeper, shot an African-American teenage shoplifter in the back of the head, killing her, after the girl had hit Du three times and knocked her to the ground. Du's case eventually led to a flashpoint of blacks' venting their frustrations about the Rodney King beating case on Koreans.
Had the media observed the basic rules of journalism -- refraining from racial labeling unless it is relevant to the case -- Du's case would not have turned into a racial case that inflamed blacks' anger toward Koreans.
From the beginning, the news stories called Du "a Korean-born grocer" and prompted protests from African-Americans, which were led by a self-serving community group called the Brotherhood Crusade.
Although the case involved a Korean-American grocer and a black customer, it was not a racially motivated case, the Los Angeles Police Department was quick to note. Immediately after the incident, LAPD officials held a press conference and clarified their conclusion. The transcript of the trial of the Du case, which I read, did not mention race.
How then had it become a racial case? That responsibility squarely sits with mistakes by reporters, editors and producers. They violated the fairness doctrine by failing to report both sides.
More
http://news.newamericamedia.org/news/view_article.html?article_id=223d7863f61fc253c7736f0b2548448a
As an immigrant who grew up in Los Angeles' Koreatown, I have strong feelings about what happened. The L.A. riots were a glaring example of racial prejudice against Koreans.
Who victimized these first-generation immigrants?
The culprit was the mainstream American news media. Their biased and shallow reporting usually began with the Los Angeles Times, which set the tone in the city. Wire services, television networks and radio outlets all followed the Times.
I observed the local news media focus on inner-city merchant-customer disputes as a racially charged conflict between African-Americans and Korean-Americans. That reached a high point when Soon Ja Du, a Korean-American shopkeeper, shot an African-American teenage shoplifter in the back of the head, killing her, after the girl had hit Du three times and knocked her to the ground. Du's case eventually led to a flashpoint of blacks' venting their frustrations about the Rodney King beating case on Koreans.
Had the media observed the basic rules of journalism -- refraining from racial labeling unless it is relevant to the case -- Du's case would not have turned into a racial case that inflamed blacks' anger toward Koreans.
From the beginning, the news stories called Du "a Korean-born grocer" and prompted protests from African-Americans, which were led by a self-serving community group called the Brotherhood Crusade.
Although the case involved a Korean-American grocer and a black customer, it was not a racially motivated case, the Los Angeles Police Department was quick to note. Immediately after the incident, LAPD officials held a press conference and clarified their conclusion. The transcript of the trial of the Du case, which I read, did not mention race.
How then had it become a racial case? That responsibility squarely sits with mistakes by reporters, editors and producers. They violated the fairness doctrine by failing to report both sides.
More
http://news.newamericamedia.org/news/view_article.html?article_id=223d7863f61fc253c7736f0b2548448a
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