El Espectaculo

The “spectacle” of the death penalty in the United States



Since 1977, when the US Supreme Court reintroduced the death penalty, 1,000 people have been executed and 3,500 are waiting on death row (Fan, Keltner , & Wyatt, 2001, p. 439); (Kudlac, 2007, p. 13). In the New York Times, from 1960 to 2003, 3,692 stories related to the death penalty were published (Darbis, Baumgartner,Boydstun, De Boef, & Shen, 2008, p. 116). As statistical studies have shown the death penalty is increasingly portrayed by the mass media communication in the United States. For French theorist Guy Debord, this tendency can be qualified as a modern society who lives and revolves around “spectacles” presented by the mass media communications. In his book Society of the spectacle, Debord (1967)examines how the mass media reflects contemporary society’s basic values, influences their way of life, and dramatizes controversies and struggles inside society. In this case, we attend to apply this theoretical perspective to the representation of capital punishment in the United States as one of those “spectacles” that society lives on a daily basis.

Media companies and industries have becomeextremely important actors on the public stage when public policy issues arise. In this case of the death penalty, the media spectacles influence can be illustrated through the news coverage (focus and intensity) and its effects (deterrence and public opinion). For Debord, the purpose of these spectacles is to “interrelate and explain a wide range of seemingly unconnected phenomena” (Debord, 1967).Executions are dramatic, unique and high profile events. They seek to deter people from committing heinous crime and construct public opinion. As mentioned in the introduction, from 1960 to 2003, 3,692 stories related to the death

penalty were published (Darbis, Baumgartner, Boydstun, De Boef, & Shen, 2008, p. 116). Another study showed the importance of time-lapse between the formalsentence and the actual execution on the public’s perception and interest. It was concluded that the public’s interest had vanished by the time the prisoner was put to death and so, the newspapers interest on publishing news related to that execution (Savitz, 1958, p. 338). In other studies, the short and long term effects of executions on deterring crime were illustrated. One study concluded thathomicide rates decreased by 35.7% immediately following the published execution and that the long term effects of the death penalty provided no indications that its influence was still relevant (Phillips, 1980, p. 139).
To obtain a maximum outreach the spectacle can be represented in several particular ways: through information, propaganda, advertising or direct consumption in newspapers, radio showsor TV shows (Debord, 1967). In the article Does Viewing a Televised Execution Affect Attitudes toward Capital Punishment (1995), the authors determine and examine several cases where these spectacles are used through consumption mediums and advertising. Firstly, an example were consumption is used was the television channel NBC presentation on national television of a pay-per-view movie entitledWitness to the Execution where a live execution takes place. A study conducted afterwards by a California television station revealed that 77% of the respondents were in favour of televised executions (Howells, Flanagan , & Haga, 1995, p. 412). Secondly, related to advertising, an Ohio County judge ordered that a person be sentenced to a televised execution to prove that the criminal justicesystem is being harsh on murders criminals. The effects of this proposal, as shown by the article, were immediate as 80%-90% of the public were in favour of the proposal (Howells, Flanagan , & Haga, 1995, p. 412). Another important and relevant fact provided by that same article (1995) was that public executions in the United States have not existed since 1835. This perception can only be...