You would think that when a demonstration turns violent resulting in damages, robberies, injuries, and arrests, the major newspaper in that city would do a separate possibly front-page story on the event.
Not the Los Angeles Times which despite a highly-violent Zimmerman verdict-related rally erupting on Crenshaw Blvd. Monday evening, the print edition of the paper only included the incident in a page six report about national outrage over the ruling:
Meanwhile, protests of the verdict continued across the country. In Los Angeles, demonstrators marched along Crenshaw Boulevard, stomping on cars, assaulting bystanders, setting fires and vandalizing property. People hurled chunks of concrete at officers on Vernon Avenue, police said, but no injuries were reported. Police declared an unlawful assembly shortly before 10 p.m. and arrested at least 13 people.
The chaos created a nightmare for commuters as cars were trapped around Leimert Park and bus service was canceled on Crenshaw and Martin Luther King Jr. boulevards, transit officials said.
Buried much deeper in the article:
Although protests of the verdict have been largely peaceful, some arrests have been made — including nine in Los Angeles on Sunday night and at least one Monday night.
Protesters held a vigil for Martin in Leimert Park. Afterward, several marchers moved along Crenshaw Boulevard chanting, "No justice, no peace."
The LAPD declared a tactical alert about 9 p.m., which means that off-duty officers can be held on duty when their shifts end and may respond only to high-priority calls.
Police estimated that 80 to 150 people were engaged in lawless activity along Crenshaw, with some jumping on top of vehicles and appearing to assault bystanders. Some protesters ignited fireworks in the middle of Crenshaw.
And that was that. Six paragraphs and 203 words on page six were all the editors of the Times devoted to this event.
Yet at the Times website, the hostilities were given far greater attention in a piece entitled "L.A. officials urge calm, vow to crack down on protesters":
Los Angeles officials late Monday night commended police in their response to violence following a protest of the George Zimmerman verdict and vowed to crack down on similar actions beginning Tuesday.
About 350 Los Angeles Police Department officers swarmed the Crenshaw district after groups of youths broke away from a peaceful protest in Leimert Park and stomped on cars, broke windows, set fires and attacked several people. Among those attacked were a television reporter and his cameraman, according to law enforcement authorities.
Late Monday, at least 13 people were arrested on suspicion of committing various offenses, the LAPD said. Reporter Dave Bryan and his cameraman, both of whom work for Channels 2 and 9, were attacked and one of them was taken to a hospital with a possible concussion, Lt. Andy Neiman told The Times.
Police estimated that about 150 people took part in the violence after the peaceful vigil at Leimert Park following the acquittal of Zimmerman, 29, on Saturday in Florida on second-degree murder and manslaughter in the shooting death of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin last year.
So 150 people were involved in a violent protest that required 350 police officers to contain, and the Times felt all it deserved in its print edition was 203 words on page six.
When media analyst Richard Grenell noted this absurdity on Twitter, the Times's Martin Beck responded:
@richardgrenell True, the print edition lacked a separate local violence story. Our digital coverage was robust, though.
— Martin Beck (@MartinBeck) July 16, 2013
That's all well and good, but the hundreds of thousands nay millions of Los Angeles residents that certainly count on the Times for local news are potentially woefully informed about what happened in their own city.
Makes you wonder why the Times' print editors thought this story deserved so little coverage.
