The News Media and the Disorders: The Kerner Commission's Examination of Race Riots and Civil Disturbances, 1967-68 A dissertation presented to the faculty of the Scripps College of Communication of Ohio University In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree Doctor of Philosophy Thomas J. Hrach June 2008 © 2008 Thomas J. Hrach All Rights Reserved ii This dissertation titled The News Media and the Disorders: The Kerner Commission's Examination of Race Riots and Civil Disturbances, 1967-68 by THOMAS J. HRACH has been approved for the E. W. Scripps School of Journalism and the Scripps College of Communication by Patrick S. Washburn Professor of E. W. Scripps School of Journalism Gregory J. Shepherd Dean, Scripps College of Communication iii Abstract HRACH, THOMAS J., Ph.D., June 2008, Journalism The News Media and the Disorders: The Kerner Commission's Examination of Race Riots and Civil Disturbances, 1967-68 (276 pp.) Director of Dissertation: Patrick S. Washburn The National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders, known informally as the Kerner Commission, issued a 425-page report on March 1, 1968, that brought the attention of the nation to the issues of race and poverty. President Lyndon Johnson appointed the commission on July 27, 1967, after a summer of urban rioting in hopes of preventing future violence. One of the questions Johnson asked the commission to answer was: “What effect do the mass media have on the riots?” From that question, the commission developed Chapter Fifteen of the Kerner Report titled “The News Media and the Disorders.” Historians and journalists credit the news media chapter with inspiring improvement in how the press covered race and poverty and encouraging an increase in the number of blacks hired into the mainstream media. This dissertation examines how and why the commission developed its news media chapter. It analyzes why the news media were criticized for their coverage of rioting, who were the major influences on the development of the chapter, what research was used to come to the commission’s conclusions and how the chapter was put together. Approved: _____________________________________________________________ Patrick S. Washburn Professor of E. W. Scripps School of Journalism iv Acknowledgements This dissertation project was made possible with the assistance and support of colleagues, friends and family. The project has its origins in the fall of 2005 as I started the Ph.D. Program at the E.W. Scripps School of Journalism at Ohio University, where the school supported me with a teaching associate position. While several faculty members were instrumental in the project, particular thanks goes to Dr. Patrick S. Washburn, who helped me develop the project and guided me as my dissertation committee chair, and Dr. Joseph Bernt, my advisor and a member of the dissertation committee. Outside the school of journalism, thanks goes to Dr. Chester Pach and Dr. David Mould for their work on my committee. Thanks also goes to the Lyndon Baines Johnson Foundation for its generous support that allowed me to travel to the LBJ Library in Austin, Texas, in December 2006 for research that became the foundation for this project. Also financial help for research came from Ohio University for trips taken to the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library in Springfield, Illinois, in September 2007 and the Library of Congress in Washington D.C. in January 2008. Most significantly, thanks goes to Jennifer, my wife of seventeen years, whose tireless support made this work possible along with my girls Mandy, Sarah and Katie. For more on how this research project developed, see Appendix C. v Table of Contents Page Abstract........................................................................................................................... iv Acknowledgments.............................................................................................................v Chapter 1 – Introduction ...................................................................................................1 A dramatic change in the ‘white press’......................................................................1 News media faced a ‘crisis in credibility’..................................................................5 ‘The indictment was extraordinary’.........................................................................11 ‘Conversation is still going on’................................................................................17 Chapter 2 – Blame the Messenger ..................................................................................26 Media contributing to the rioting? ...........................................................................26 ‘Sure, we know this thing is dynamite’ ...................................................................32 ‘The newsman thought he was a hero. The black man thought he was a villain’ ...38 Black deejays played a ‘mystical, powerful role’....................................................44 Chapter 3 – Kerner: A Well Liked, Respected Media Critic..........................................52 ‘We like the guy personally, no matter what he’s done’ .........................................52 A ‘spectacular breakthrough’...................................................................................58 ‘You deserve the gratitude of the nation’ ................................................................64 ‘Otto Kerner did many good things. They should not be forgotten’ .......................67 Chapter 4 – Commission members, staff and the news media .......................................75 Lindsay: ‘I am the mayor, and you have the obligation to treat me with respect’...75 Wilkins, Peden background in the news media .......................................................81 Backgrounds in politics, labor, law enforcement, business.....................................87 Key staff members with significant influence .........................................................89 Chapter 5 – Key Decisions Set Direction on Media Research .......................................99 Keeping the press, public informed .........................................................................99 ‘With an increasing sense of urgency’...................................................................104 Proposal made for media research .........................................................................107 A conference rather than hearings .........................................................................111 Utilizing the work of others ...................................................................................115 Chapter 6 – News Media Conference Gets to Heart of the Matter...............................124 A group of high-powered media representatives...................................................124 Kerner sets the tone of frank, open discussion ......................................................129 Contentious issues discussed, debated...................................................................134 Conference became key piece of research.............................................................139 vi Chapter 7 – Simulmatics Produces A Contradictory Analysis .....................................146 A firm with military connections, computer savvy ...............................................146 Content analysis gives media good marks.............................................................151 Interviews tell a different story..............................................................................156 Simulmatics work criticized ..................................................................................160 Simulmatics analysis becomes a starting point......................................................165 Chapter 8 – Codes, Media Impressions and a Survey of Literature .............................169 Should the news media play God?.........................................................................169 Codes ‘seldom harmful, often useful’....................................................................174 The definition of a riot is ‘a matter of a reporter’s discretion’ ..............................178 Coverage of race relations, riots a recurrent theme ...............................................184 Chapter 9 – Chapter is Written, Critiqued, Released and Analyzed.............................192 ‘We were doing the Lord’s work’..........................................................................192 News media criticism sharpened, softened............................................................197 Report’s release – breaking the embargo...............................................................201 News media reaction immediately positive ...........................................................204 Commission defends report, reiterates news media criticism................................210 Chapter 10 – Conclusion...............................................................................................218 Updated report treads on well-trod ground............................................................218 Wise decisions made on news media chapter........................................................223 Nothing all that new yet it ‘led the way’................................................................229 A handbook for the news media to follow.............................................................235 Report succeeded where its predecessor failed......................................................239