Night of the Living Dead Dissects the News: Race, the 1967 Riots, and “Dead Neighbors”

George Romero’s Night of the Living Dead (1968) began filming in June and July of 1967, the same months that riots were occurring in 164 US cities as African Americans expressed their anger en masse against police brutality. The film challenges the veracity of news coverage of these riots and America’s subsequently violent response by depicting the creation of news in the field and studio, and its reception in the living room, as well as showing film viewers important events that the media fails to cover. This critique permeates the film’s diegetic newscasts and the film’s narrative and anti-racist message.