NEWS CHOPPER 2 OJ CHASE DRIVER

That may have inflamed racial tensions and heightened fear in the city, Yoka acknowledges. Bob Tur was heard saying live on air, “These are not people.”

NEWS CHOPPER 2 OJ CHASE DRIVER

During the Los Angeles uprisings, the beating of a truck driver named Reginald Denny was replayed over and over and became one of the searing images of that event. That's when you see it being ushered in - the era of high speed pursuit.”Īt times, they became part of the story. Over a period of time, the audience became accustomed to watching that and wanting to see the next tumultuous or the next catastrophic moment. I think in one sense, the work that Zoe and Marika were doing was simply trying to bring that into the homes of the people of Los Angeles watching the nightly news. “The city was undergoing a truly tumultuous time - the social upheaval that was coming in response to the treatment of the African American community and many different people of color. Yoka says the context of life in Los Angeles at the time is important to understanding the shift to more sensational coverage. When we look back at the ‘80s and ‘90s, often the images that come to mind are the images that Zoe and Marika captured.” He continues, “Along their journey, they really pushed helicopter reporting into the next level of breaking news coverage, maybe the ‘entertainmentification’ of news.

And as they fell in love and raised a family, the work that they did, the scale that they operated at, just grew and grew and grew,” Yoka says.

It's sort of the foundation of who they were together. Their relationship was completely intertwined with covering the news. “They met each other as basically kids and their first date involved going into a crime scene to take photos.

That's the focus of a new documentary called 'Whirlybird.' Producer Matt Yoka says he decided to tell the story through the lens of Tur and Gerrard’s relationship. This became part of a bigger shift in how local journalists did their jobs. The chopper made it possible for them to bypass Southern California traffic and quickly arrive at locations of breaking news like wildfires and police pursuits. With the advantage of their bird’s eye view, they were among the first to go beyond traffic reports and use their helicopter to cover broader news. Simpson’s slow-speed chase two years later, helicopter pilot/reporter Bob Tur and his now ex-wife Marika Gerrard were television news pioneers.

News chopper 2 oj chase