Do Media Matter in Gubernatorial Clemency Decisions?
David ProtessA study’s investigation into the news media’s agenda-setting influence on gubernatorial clemency decisions in four Illinois death penalty cases is detailed in this article. It found that press coverage of these cases had little effect on the governor’s exercise of his discretionary clemency power, even when a journalistic campaign for clemency mobilized public opinion on behalf of a condemned inmate. Instead, established political, legal, and organizational considerations prevailed. Also examined are factors that shaped the media’s agenda in the final phase of capital cases and found that press portrayals were influenced by the same norms that govern the coverage of violent crime, thereby circumscribing public discourse about capital punishment. The article concludes by reviewing recent developments in death penalty cases that offer a variety of opportunities for further research.Published: Chicago Policy Review (Volume 2, No. 1, Fall 1997).
