Eric Berger pens a variation on the ever popular Chron eye for the death row killer guy theme today, reporting on a study that suggests death row prisoners may experience pain in some circumstances when put to death by lethal injection.
In the interest of equal time, we suggest that Eric Berger next be assigned to troll for studies related to the following:
1) Pain experienced by disabled persons when their feeding tubes are forcibly removed
2) Pain experienced by victims of violent crimes at hands of Death Row Killer Guys (rape, murder, torture and the like).
We’re sure Chronicle editor Jeff Cohen will get right on those stories.
UPDATE (5:43 PM): Google News searching on Dr. Koniarias, one of the authors of the study and who is quoted in the story, turns up an interesting selection of how this story has been treated thus far by major media. The first news source (as captured by Google News) to run the story was the Common Dreams Progressive News Wire, which picked up a press release from the National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty yesterday. Other U.S. media outlets have picked up various versions of the story. ABC News is running the Reuters version in its health section. Ditto MSNBC. Forbes runs a version in its health section. Ditto the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. The Washington Times posted a version of the story as part of its UPI wire service.
It seems that not many news editors were attuned enough to the National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty to devote staff to producing their own version of this story for today’s edition, let alone put it on the front page. But then again, that’s why we call it the Chron Eye, as opposed to, say, the Dallas Morning News Eye.
UPDATE 2: James Taranto’s Best of the Web weighs in with this little blurb:
Problem Solved
“U.S. Executions by Lethal Injection May Not Be Humane”–headline, HealthDay News, April 14
“Experts Say Ending Feeding Can Lead to a Gentle Death”–headline, New York Times, March 20
I doubt Mr. and Mrs. Kathryn Kase are amused.
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