This study investigates how Thai newspapers from 1997 to 2017 discursively constructed shared beliefs about capital punishment. Using a corpus of execution news reports, it analyzes representational practices (social actor naming, action description, voice incorporation) to reveal how state killing is purified and violence minimized. While the overt negativity decreased over time (with a shift from firing squads to lethal injections), the underlying pro-death penalty ideology remained consistent. Executions were presented as routine procedures, minimizing state agency and emphasizing the executed individuals' culpability. The study highlights how subtle linguistic choices normalize and perpetuate favorable stances toward capital punishment.

Orawee Bunnag, Krisda Chaemsaithong