Thomas, Ken

WXYZ:

• The Detroit Riots: 1967 Peabody Digest

  Video recording located at the University of Georgia main library [OCLC 40400091]

  “WXYZ-TV‘s coverage of the week-long Detroit riots of July, 1967 represented the most comprehensive single job of news reporting in the station’s history.”–1967 Peabody Digest. Captions identify footage from July 23 and 24. Sunset, night and sunrise segments indicate the passage of subsequent days. Includes footage of rioters, looters, burning storefronts and homes, firemen fighting the fires, policemen patrolling the streets, several interviews with onlookers, a brief interview with the governor and excerpts of his press conference.

  Also includes footage of the arrival of federal troops and their patrols in the streets of Detroit, injured rioters and guards being loaded into ambulances, a woman driving through town holding a revolver, aerial views of the devastated downtown area, and prisoners at police headquarters. Reporter Ken Thomas discusses the emotions experienced by the WXYZ-TV staff who covered the riots. Concludes with footage of a police funeral. The majority of the footage is shown without narration.

  Credits: Camera crew led by Ken Thomas; cameraman, John Braddock; soundman, Thomas O’Toole; additional cameramen, Michael Kalush, Ron Little; sound engineers, Bill Hevron, Edwin Scarth; assignment editor, Frank Benesh; film processor, Joe Doneth; film editors, Dean Erskine, Jim Powers; news messenger, Mike Sublett.