New York Times: First Five Articles Published After the Rodney King Incident

Rodney King is a 25-year-old black man who was severely beaten by the police.  It is reported that he was driving close to 115 miles-per-hour, however this aspect is disputed by the director of public relations at Hyundai, Bill Wolf, who argued that Hyundai automobiles are incapable of even coming close to that speed.  This is one of many comments in the first five New York Time articles published after the incident that cast a shadow of doubt on the values of the Los Angeles Police Department. 

For example, there are multiple quotes by people who talk about how Rodney King was so brutally beaten, including a description of all of his gruesome injuries.  For example, King’s doctor, a man who has no specific monetary gain to be had out of supporting his patient, declared, “It is a horrible, horrible, brutal beating.”  The news stories are littered with evidence that the mayor of Los Angeles wants the police chief Daryl Gates to resign, so that the city of Los Angeles can begin to restore its confidence in its police men and women.  While there are myriad instances that the writers of the New York Times quote sources that defend King, Gates does not seem to be given the same fair chance.  The only quote he is awarded with regard to the public attacks on his job credibility is when he says, “No,” when confronted with the question of whether he will relinquish his post or not.  It is clear that the newspaper is attempting to reveal the inadequacies of the police department and make Rodney King out to be a victim.

The writers do not offer Gates and other police officers the same chance to defend themselves as King is given.  On many occasions throughout the stories, King is portrayed as a man who has done nothing wrong.  It is very rarely referenced that he has an arrest and jail time for armed robbery on his record.  When reporting occurrences between King and the police after the initial beating, King is described as “frightened and anxious” and apologetic about having to ask for police protection.  The New York Times makes it the audience believe that he is paranoid about his awful experience with police just months earlier.  He is called an “unresisting motorist” in the articles, and the newspaper attempts to employ the technique of Logos, where they appeal to the reader’s sense of reason.  An example of this is one of the first times that race is brought up in article four.  The writing makes the L.A.P.D. out to be completely and overtly racist in a way that Judge Kamins, a member of the Superior Court, has never seen before: “I feel that race could be part of the motive here… To say that these comments aren’t racially biased is like sticking your head in the sand.  This is probably the first trial in which I will allow racial questions.  I feel it’s a significant and relevant thought in the case.”  The reports go on to elaborate on more and more racial issues within the police department, forming public opinion to believe that the L.A.P.D. is a wildly corrupt institution and Rodney King is simply an innocent man driving a car who is the victim of the police department’s weaknesses.