Official Negligence by Lou Cannon, Chpts 1,2,5

Here are the examples of biases of journalism and features of argumentation at play in the three chapters I read for tomorrow's class.


My first example deals with the document titled "McCone Revisited". This was a report issued in 1985 which addressed many issues due to the rapidly enlarging population of South Central Los Angeles. The title "McCone Revisted" is an allusion to John McCone, a former CIA director who "headed the inquiry into the 1965 Watts riot" (Cannon 14). The report noted problems with education, housing, "equitable law enforcement" and "police-community relations, police-community understanding and the current allocation or deployment formula [of police] in South Central Los Angeles" (Cannon 18). The report was largely ignored however because "it was issued on plain paper, written in uninspired prose and had no illustrations" (Cannon 14). It was also contradictory to Mayor Bradley's lavish and optimistic LA 2000 report. This is an example of visual bias; the report was ignored because there wasn't a flashy image to go along with it.


My next example is the edits made to the George Holliday's video by KTLA. KTLA edited out the first 13 seconds of the video because after three seconds in, George Holliday moved the camera, causing a ten second fuzzy patch.  For aesthetics sake, KTLA cut that part out. However, the first three seconds depict Rodney King resisting arrest; a crucial piece of evidence. Many news agencies, and millions of viewers watching the footage from their homes, did not even know the video had been edited. This is an example of a couple different biases; it is a visual bias because the producer wanted the most aesthetically pleasing shot and also a bad news bias if the decision was intentional to paint the police in as poor light as possible. But the fact that the other new agencies never checked all the facts before releasing the footage is an expediency bias; they were so anxious to be cutting-edge and have the story first that they released the footage without a clear understanding of the situation.


My next example deals with a feature of argumentation. It is possible to form a deductive argument based on cultural or social truths leading to specific conclusions. Srgt Koon used deductive reasoning as he tried to understand the situation unfolding in front of him. Rodney King was not responding to the Taser, he appeared intoxicated, he giggled and mumbled incoherent words, was drenched in sweat despite the cold weather and seemed to exhibit superhuman strength as he resisted the arresting officers. Koon's experience with PCP users taught him that they were impervious to pain and acted strangely, so Koon decided Rodney King was under the influence of PCP and he carried out his plan accordingly.   Even though there were other explanations for all of Rodney King's behaviors, Koon only saw one option because of his deductive reasoning: PCP users are impervious to pain and act strangely; Rodney King is resisting multiple acts of force and is acting strangely; therefore, Rodney King must be on PCP. 




My next example deals with the language used by journalist when describing the tape. On many news programs, the Holliday video would play in the background as "wallpaper" as the following statement scrolled across the screen: "white officers beating a black motorist" in an attempt to highlight racism as a cause or factor of the the event (Cannon 49). This is a bad news bias because the news agencies portrayed the situation as gravely as possible to create controversy. It is also an example of a narrative bias because by drawing conclusions and enhancing the drama, reporters created a story-line. This story-line of racist cops beating a defenselessness, pleading victim was understood by many as fact rather than as one interpretation. Because viewers never received another perspective of the event, they were shocked by the acquittals of the officers.