Special Shows to Look Back at L.A. Riots

KCET-TV Channel 28 and KCRW-FM (89.9) are among the local broadcast outlets that plan special programs today to mark the fifth anniversary of the Los Angeles riots.

KCET’s public-affairs series “Life & Times” will present a 90-minute edition at 7:30 p.m. discussing what progress has been made in the areas of race relations, job opportunities and police-community relations.

KCRW’s “Which Way, L.A.?” will spend two hours examining similar issues with a variety of officials and residents, beginning at noon. The program repeats from 7-9 p.m.

Four journalism students from Manual Arts High School report on the riots’ impact for the public radio series “Marketplace,” airing on KUSC-FM (91.5) at 6 p.m.

News radio stations KNX-AM (1070) and KFWB-AM (980) plan a series of reports on the five-year anniversary throughout the day. And former Los Angeles Police Chief Daryl Gates will be the guest on Earl Ofari Hutchinson’s hourlong show at 7 p.m. on KPFK-FM (90.7).

The Showtime pay-TV channel, meanwhile, will repeat “Riot,” a TV movie about the three days of turmoil, at 9:45 p.m. It will be followed at 11:30 p.m. by a documentary about the riots’ effects, “South Central Los Angeles: Inside Voices.”