| Authors and Corporations: | |
|---|---|
| In: | Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, 91, 2014, 4, p. 740-755 |
| published: |
SAGE Publications
|
| Media Type: | Article, E-Article |
| Physical Description: | 740-755 |
|---|---|
| ISSN: |
1077-6990
2161-430X |
| DOI: | 10.1177/1077699014550094 |
| published in: | Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly |
| Language: | English |
| Subjects: | |
| Collection: | SAGE Publications (CrossRef) |
<jats:p> On June 17, 2012, journalists reported the death of Rodney King, the black motorist whose 1991 beating by several white Los Angeles police officers was captured on video by citizen journalist George Holliday. This essay argues that journalistic mythologizing of Rodney King as a victim of circumstance and journalism as simultaneous hero echoed existing narratives of civil rights history that largely strip black people of agency. In so doing, journalists proffered a larger cultural narrative of racial reconciliation and progress, while recoding King’s life in accordance with other pre-existing, racialized scripts. </jats:p> |