Publisher: Center for Community Research & Service
Date Issued: 1996
Abstract: Media organizations, particularly the broadcast media, have become extremely
important actors on the public stage over the last three decades. As a result,
what the media chose to cover and how they chose to cover it is an
important question. That is magnified when the media turn their attention to a public
policy issue like the death penalty that already possesses profound social significance.
In no other area of public policy can the state impose its will so completely and finally
on an individual citizen. Therefore, the public should understand the issues that
surround capital punishment. That understanding is virtually always communicated
through media organizations because very few of us have first-hand knowledge of the
death penalty. In this paper, I explore how television broadcast organizations cover
the imposition of the death penalty. How did they carry it out? What themes did they
convey? What did the public learn?
