Normally, a death penalty case would have marginal relevance to media law class, but it certainly reminds me of Chapter 1, which discusses the American legal system. Indeed, the death penalty represents, perhaps, the strongest expression of government power over the individual -- the ability to put a citizen to death for certain crimes.
But my interest, in particular, is what unfolded last night as I followed media coverage of the case. CNN and other news outlets were reporting live from the scene outside the prison where Davis was scheduled to be executed. Dozens and dozens of law enforcement officials, many in full riot gear, stood guard in front of the prison entrance. Across the street, demonstrators and Troy Davis supporters chanted, sang and peacefully gathered.
I had just gotten home shortly after 6 p.m. Central Time yesterday evening. I checked my iPhone and turned on CNN, which reported that the U.S. Supreme Court had agreed to consider a last-minute appeal from Davis' lawyers. This meant that the execution was being delayed until the high court ruled on this appeal.
Meanwhile, I checked the National Public Radio app on my iPhone and saw this, at 6:25 p.m. Central Time:
At this time, NPR reported that Davis had been executed.
Confused, I checked other media outlets, and I kept checking the NPR app on my iPhone.
Even 41 minutes after that story version had been updated, I still saw NPR reporting that Davis had been executed:
I even posted on my Twitter account, asking why NPR News was reporting that Davis had been executed, when it was clear that was untrue (please excuse the misspelling of Davis' first name).
It wasn't until 6:49 p.m. Central Time that NPR updated the story on the app to reflect that Davis was still alive and that the court was considering a late appeal.
As you may know, the Supreme Court denied Davis' last appeal about three hours later and Davis was pronounced dead at 10:08 p.m. Central Time.
Though I tagged NPR News in my tweets, I've yet to hear why this happened. I suspect I know what happened. I figure the news story reporting on Davis' execution was in the queue and ready to go. Shortly after 6 p.m. Eastern Time, it was posted. But not verifying the information was a significant mistake.
I understand. Mistakes happen. But how long should it take to correct the mistake? Is it unreasonable to expect NPR to correct the mistake as soon as possible? Is 40 minutes too long a period of time to consider reasonable? I think so. If it was corrected with 10 or 15 minutes, I would be more understanding.
But for at least 43 minutes, and potentially as long as 47 minutes since the last time the story was updated at 7:02 p.m. Eastern Time, NPR was still reporting that Davis was dead, when it was clearly not true.
I expect more from a media outlet such as NPR. I'd be interested in hearing an explanation as to why this happened. I've not seen any media criticism about this, but I cannot be the only person in the world to have noticed this last night, could I?
If you'd like to comment about NPR's coverage, or if you'd like to comment on the Davis execution, please do so in the comments.
