This November 2005 file photo shows the death chamber at the Southern Ohio Corrections Facility in Lucasville, Ohio.
When an execution is reported on in the media, coverage typically peaks during the few days before and after it is carried out. But the coverage often fails to go into any depth.
In an effort to spur more comprehensive coverage of capital punishment, the Marshall Project -- a non-profit, non-partisan criminal justice-focused news organization -- has launched a new partnership with outlets in all nine U.S. states that have executed people since 2013 plus Arkansas, which is planning to resume executions after a hiatus.
The project, called The Next to Die, offers a database that includes detailed information from the Death Penalty Information Center and participating media outlets about inmates facing execution in the U.S., as well as embeddable countdowns.
Currently featured prominently on the website is 51-year-old Richard Glossip, who is scheduled to be put to death on Sept. 16 in Oklahoma. Glossip has spent 17 years on death row after being convicted of first-degree murder in 1998, though he maintains his innocence and has attracted high-profile supporters. Included in the information on Glossip is a link to a lengthy feature about his case from the Tulsa Frontier.
In an interview with the Nieman Lab’s Justin Ellis, project managing editor Gabriel Dance explained that he anticipates the database could eventually be used to track patterns in U.S. executions, such as what types of people are sentenced to death or which district attorneys have high conviction rates in such cases. Another editor compared it to the work being done by other media partnerships like PolitiFact and Homicide Watch.
Ziva Branstetter, editor-in-chief at the Tulsa Frontier, a participating news startup, told Nieman she is optimistic the project will result in more thorough coverage.
“The state is sending someone to death -- this is the most severe action they can take,” Branstetter told Nieman. “We should cover it all with the same attention, no matter the manpower.”
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