16 September 2001

According to Ira Glass, the structure he used in his radio documentary, This American Life, follows the following formula:

"There's an anecdote, that is, a sequence of actions where someone says 'this happened then this happened then this happened'--and then there's a moment of reflection about what the sequence means, and then on the next set of actions."

This pattern of fact then thought provides a sequential pattern to help the listener learn, then understand. In fact, the same pattern can be applied to other radio documentaries as well.

Witness to an Execution also follows Glass' template for radio documentaries.

After the introduction by Jim Willet, the who narrates throughout the piece, soft guitar music plays. While the introduction music plays, the listener beings to hear the voices of several employees from the Department of Criminal Justice. The music slowly fades so the only thing that can be heard are the voices.

More than one person provides the preliminary sequence of actions. This is a logical decision because many employees oversee the execution process and this highlights the gamut of people who work in Criminal Justice. The following except comes from the transcript of the radio documentary; it shows exactly how multiple narrators describe the exact lethal injection procedure:

WILLETT: At 6:05 the medical team inserts the needles and hooks up the IVs. Chaplain Jim Brazzil.

BRAZZIL: After they are strapped down then all the officers will leave. And then it's the warden and myself in the chamber with him, and there'll be a medical team come in and they will establish an IV into each arm.

WILLETT: I have been somewhat surprised. It never crossed my mind that some of these people are just like the rest of us and are scared to death of a needle. Usually, if it goes right, and normally it does, usually in about three minutes they've got this guy hooked up to the lines. And at that time the inmate's lying on the gurney and myself and Chaplain Brazzil are in the execution chamber with the inmate.

BRAZZIL: I usually put my hand on their leg right below their knee, you know, and I usually give 'em a squeeze, let 'em know I'm right there. You can feel the trembling, the fear that's there, the anxiety that's there. You can feel the heart surging, you know. You can see it pounding through their shirt.

WILLETT: I've seen them so nervous they get one of these twitches in their leg or something and can't stop it. And I've seen the opposite. I've seen people lay up there, hooked up and waiting for the witnesses to come in. I believe I could say they were more calm than I am with you right now.

WILLETT: At 6:09 my staff escorts the witnesses into two small rooms adjacent to the death chamber. They push up real close to the windows to get a view. Larry Fitzgerald is our public relations officer. He's witnessed about 120 executions.

FITZGERALD: Once the IVs are established, then we bring the witnesses in, and in Texas the inmate is allowed five witnesses plus a spiritual advisor. The victims are allowed five witnesses. Plus there are five media witnesses.

SORGE: I'm Wayne Sorge, news director of KSAM in Huntsville, Texas. Well when we're brought into the room, the inmate is already strapped to the gurney and the tubes are inserted in each wrist.

GIDEON: My name is Leighanne Gideon. I am a former reporter for the Huntsville Item. The gurney -- I mean it takes up almost the entire room. And it's just sitting there right in the middle: a big silver gurney with white pads and the big brown leather straps. With huge silver buckles.

GRACZYK: I'm Michael Graczyk from the Associated Press. When they're on the gurney they're stretched out. His arms are extended. I've often compared it to almost a crucifixion kind of activity. Only as opposed to having the person upright, he is lying down.

JOHN MORITZ: I'm John Moritz. I'm a reporter with the Fort Worth Star Telegram. The warden will stand at the head of the condemned man and the chaplain will generally be standing with his hand on the condemned person's knee. The warden will ask if the condemned man has any last words he'd like to say. A boom mike will come down from the ceiling and sometimes you can see the man who's strapped in with probably eight to ten straps across his body -- he'll struggle to get his voice close to the mike. It's not necessary, but he does it anyway.

GRACZYK: And the inmate either declines to speak or says nothing or says a lot or sings or prays or does any number of things.

MORITZ: Generally the voice is emotional, nervous, cracks a little bit.

GIDEON: A lot of inmates apologize. A lot of inmates will say that you're executing an innocent man. And then there have been some men who have been executed that I knew, and I've had them tell me goodbye.

WILLETT: I will have talked to him at least once and somewhere in there found out how I'm gonna know when he's through with his statement. And most of them will tell me 'This will be my last line.' Or some of them just say 'Warden, I'll tell you,' and they will literally just turn to me and say 'Warden that's all.'

MORITZ: The warden will remove his glasses, which is the signal to the executioners behind a mirrored glass window. And when the glasses come off, the lethal injection begins to flow.

Another benefit of having multiple people describe the procedure are the multiple perspectives that highlight the reflection section. The second part of Glass' formula is more emotional and introspective on behalf of everyone who takes part in this project. To underscore this poignancy, melodramatic guitar music plays while the people discuss their emotions. The following section immediately follows the previous section:

(Music fades in.)

GIDEON: I was twenty-six years old when I witnessed my first execution. After the execution was over, I felt numb. And that's a good way to explain it. And a lot of people will tell you that, that it's just a very numb feeling afterwards.

MORITZ: The first execution I did, I was wondering how I'd react to it. But it's like any other unpleasant situation a reporter is asked to cover. At some point there's a detachment. You realize that it's not about you; it's about the guy who's about ready to be put to death.

GIDEON: I've walked out of death chamber numb and my legs feeling like rubber sometimes, my head maybe not really feeling like it's attached to my shoulders. I've been told that it's perfectly normal, everyone feels it, and that after a while that numb feeling goes away. And indeed it does.

SORGE: I wrestle with myself about the fact that it's easier now, and was I right to make part of my income from watching people die? And I have to recognize the fact that what I do for a living is hold up a mirror to people of what their world is. Capital punishment is part of that, and if you are in the city where more capital punishment occurs than any place else in the civilized world, that's got to be part of the job.

(Music ends.)

Though several of the interviewees describe a feeling of numbness, the various feelings show how a procedure like Lethal Injection affects everyone involved.

The people in this program are not cold-blooded killers in relish. They neither condemn nor praise the death penalty. From some it is a part of society that has to exist and this is a small group of people have to face these emotions as part of their duty. Ira Glass' structure for radio documentaries is not the only way to produce a radio documentary. However, it's application in Witness to an Execution provide an effective method of showing what it is like the people have to work in this environment.

For further information, you can link to Witness to an Execution, here.

Link back to the Hans 320 webpage, here.