--- description: Jon Stewart and President Obama agree with those who critiqued coverage of the Rodney King riots title: Critiques of Media Coverage of Baltimore Protests Echo 1992 LA Riot image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- * [History](/section/history/) ## History Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Media](/tag/media/) ## Media Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # How Critiques of Baltimore Media Coverage Echo 1992  by [Nolan Feeney](/author/nolan-feeney/)  ## Nolan Feeney Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Apr 29, 2015 7:38 PM CUT  by [Nolan Feeney](/author/nolan-feeney/)  ## Nolan Feeney Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Apr 29, 2015 7:38 PM CUT _The Daily Show_‘s Jon Stewart wasn’t the first to compare [this week’s rioting in Baltimore](http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-lopez-baltimore-los-angeles-riots-20150428-column.html "undefined") to the [1992 Rodney King Riots in Los Angeles](http://time.com/vault/issue/1992-05-11/page/20/ "undefined"), which were sparked exactly 23 years ago, and he likely won’t be the last — not just because of the confluence of dates and events, but because of how the media covered those events. During his opening monologue on Tuesday, Stewart called out what he sees as one of the media’s worst habits: a tendency to search for the most sensational images at the expense of context. He compared coverage of Baltimore to similar footage of white people rioting after sporting events and a pumpkin festivals, and he took particular aim at CNN’s Wolf Blitzer, who said, “It’s hard to believe this is going on in a major American city right now,” just a few months after making similar comments about Ferguson. “These cyclical eruptions appear like tragedy cicadas,” Stewart said, “Depressing in their similarity, predictability and intractability.” Even President Obama expressed that he [shared Stewart’s frustrations with the media](http://www.poynter.org/news/mediawire/340061/obama-calls-out-media-for-coverage-of-baltimore/ "undefined") during a Tuesday press conference. “If we really wanted to solve the problem, we could,” he said, noting that coverage of the violence dwarfed coverage of peaceful protests from previous days. “It would require everybody saying, ‘This is important, this is significant,’ and not just pay attention to these communities when a CVS burns or a young man gets shot or has his spine snapped.” Those criticisms will sound familiar to those who read TIME critic Richard Schickel’s take on the Los Angeles riots in the magazine’s [May 11, 1992 issue](http://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,975478,00.html "undefined"): --- > “” --- **_Read the full story here:_**[How TV Failed to Get the Real Picture](http://time.com/vault/issue/1992-05-11/page/31/ "undefined") **_Read TIME’s cover story about the Los Angeles riots, here in the TIME Vault:_**[The Fire This Time](http://time.com/vault/issue/1992-05-11/spread/20/ "undefined") ### What Baltimore Looked Like in the Aftermath of the Riot of 1968  Caption from LIFE. In a Baltimore ghetto, Mrs. Judy Brookhouser watches from the caged window of her apartment in "The Compound" —the guarded complex operated by Johns Hopkins Hospital for families of staff doctors. Bill Eppridge—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Caption from LIFE. To safeguard against break-ins and looting, many merchants have adopted the newest style in urban architecture—"Riot Renaissance." Window displays are eliminated, and so are the windows. At a dry-cleaning shop, striped sheets of plywood now cover the facade. Bill Eppridge—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Caption from LIFE. At a grocery, faint outlines around the new brick betray the former presence of shop windows. Bill Eppridge—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Caption from LIFE. At a supermarket, solid walls of concrete block replace riot-smashed plate glass. Bill Eppridge—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Baltimore, 1969. Bill Eppridge—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Baltimore, 1969. Bill Eppridge—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Caption from LIFE. This loaded revolver, in a holster nailed to the back of the counter, is one of five guns kept within easy reach by the owner of a pawnshop in a high-crime area. Bill Eppridge—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Caption from LIFE. At a drive-in restaurant plagued by brawling, three "rent-a-cops" —looking more authoritative in wide brimmed hats than city police—stand guard on weekends. Bill Eppridge—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Baltimore, 1969. Bill Eppridge—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Baltimore, 1969. Bill Eppridge—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Baltimore, 1969. Bill Eppridge—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Baltimore, 1969. Bill Eppridge—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Baltimore, 1969. Bill Eppridge—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Baltimore, 1969. Bill Eppridge—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Caption from LIFE. Past the darkened marble stoops that are Baltimore's hallmark, Mrs. Barbara Ringgold walks home after working late—escorted by Tiny, her German shepherd. Bill Eppridge—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Baltimore, 1969. Bill Eppridge—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Baltimore, 1969. Bill Eppridge—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Caption from LIFE. Prisoners of fear and old age, these residents of a Baltimore public housing project—Lawrence Puccia and his wife, both 87—never go out at night. Bill Eppridge—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Baltimore, 1969. Bill Eppridge—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Baltimore, 1969. Bill Eppridge—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Baltimore, 1969. Bill Eppridge—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Baltimore, 1969. Bill Eppridge—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3840363/media-coverage-baltimore-rodney-king/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3840363/media-coverage-baltimore-rodney-king/"},"headline":"How Critiques of Baltimore Media Coverage Echo 1992","datePublished":"2015-04-29T19:38:06.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T05:04:18.112Z","description":"Critiques of this week's news stories will sound familiar to those who followed the L.A. riots of 1992","url":"https://time.com/3840363/media-coverage-baltimore-rodney-king/","keywords":["Media","baltimore"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Nolan Feeney","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/nolan-feeney/"}],"articleSection":"History","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/history/","name":"History"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/media/","name":"Media"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3840363/media-coverage-baltimore-rodney-king/","name":"How Critiques of Baltimore Media Coverage Echo 1992"}}]}] ```