--- title: Critiques of Media Coverage of Baltimore Protests Echo 1992 LA Riot description: Jon Stewart and President Obama agree with those who critiqued coverage of the Rodney King riots canonical: https://time.com/3840363/media-coverage-baltimore-rodney-king/ author: Nolan Feeney article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-04-29T19:38:06.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-05-11T05:04:18.112Z article:section: History og:title: Critiques of Media Coverage of Baltimore Protests Echo 1992 LA Riot og:description: Jon Stewart agrees with those who critiqued coverage of the Rodney King riots og:url: https://time.com/3840363/media-coverage-baltimore-rodney-king/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Critiques of Media Coverage of Baltimore Protests Echo 1992 LA Riot twitter:description: Jon Stewart agrees with those who critiqued coverage of the Rodney King riots twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # How Critiques of Baltimore Media Coverage Echo 1992 > Sponsored content. 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They are at time.com/newsletters and are separate from a paid subscription.  by [Nolan Feeney](https://time.com/author/nolan-feeney/)  ## Nolan Feeney Apr 29, 2015 7:38 PM UTC  by [Nolan Feeney](https://time.com/author/nolan-feeney/)  ## Nolan Feeney Apr 29, 2015 7:38 PM UTC _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) to the [1992 Rodney King Riots in Los Angeles](http://time.com/vault/issue/1992-05-11/page/20/), 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/) 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): --- > “” --- **_Read the full story here:_**[How TV Failed to Get the Real Picture](http://time.com/vault/issue/1992-05-11/page/31/) **_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/) ### 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. 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