Framing and reframing the 1992 LA Riots: A study of minority issues framing by the Los Angeles Times and its readers

Abstract

ABSTRACT:In the advent of societal issues surrounding minority groups, this paper investigates a significant such example in history (1992 Los Angeles Riots) to better understand how mainstream news media covered the story with regard to issues pertaining to key minority groups (blacks, Koreans). Utilizing theoretical frameworks such as media framing and the public sphere (Habermas, 1989), this paper examined how the Los Angeles Times framed issues regarding those minority communities before, during, and after the 1992 LA riots. Furthermore, the study analyzed audience discourse (letters to the editor) in the same time period to examine how the frames in news coverage compares with audience framing. Findings suggested that in the months after the riots, LAT significantly altered its coverage in a way that corresponded with the framing by its readers. Findings were then discussed in light of mass communication's relationship with society, especially for minority representation and framing.Key words: journalism; reporting; framing; race minorities; audiences. RESUMEN:En el advenimiento de las cuestiones sociales que rodean a los grupos minoritarios, este artículo investiga un ejemplo significativo en la historia (1992, Disturbios en los Ángeles) para comprender mejor cómo los principales medios de comunicación cubrieron la historia con respecto a temas pertenecientes a grupos minoritarios clave (negros, coreanos). Utilizando marcos teóricos como el encuadre de los medios de comunicación y la esfera pública (Habermas, 1989), este artículo examinó cómo el periódico Los Ángeles Times enmarca cuestiones sobre las comunidades minoritarias antes, durante y después de los disturbios de 1992 en la ciudad de Los Ángeles. Soo-Kwang Oh & Justin Hudson 124Revista de Comunicación 16 (2), 2017 IntroductionIn the United States alone, racial tension has become an important topic in the news-scores of cases involving racial profiling, police brutality and social movements have sprung up as a key issue in society (Blay, 2017). Such issues have also become a staple in the rest of the world, with immigration and refugee issues disrupting nation states in Europe and elsewhere globally (Teitelbaum, 2017). One of the problems associated with such issues is media coverage (HQR, 2017). How do news media cover and frame issues that signify racial conflict and tension among ethnic minorities in their audiences? Furthermore, how do the affected minorities respond to the coverage, and does this response influence how the news media further frame the issue? In the wake of the social tension resulting from various incidents involving minority groups, the researchers sought to better address the questions above by examining a prominent case from the past, the 1992 Los Angeles Riots. We believe doing so will shed light on the context and history regarding how media initially frame minority-related issues and how they those frames shift when media are faced with active audience discourse.News media provide coverage of newsworthy issues and foster...

Framing periodístico sobre el aborto en el Perú (2015-2019): un análisis comparativo entre la prensa de las regiones Lima metropolitana y Piura

“…Sin embargo, no siempre coinciden los encuadres noticiosos utilizados por los periodistas con los puntos de vista de sus audiencias, dada la libertad que el profesional de la información tiene o debería tener (Oh y Hudson, 2017). Tampoco tiene por qué ocurrir a la inversa, pues la interpretación de la realidad que realizan las audiencias frente a un hecho depende de su experiencia e interpretación personal, además de la selección interpretativa que realicen los medios de comunicación (Gamson, 1992).…”