Death has a price ... and audience

If we thought we had seen everything on TV: reality show, competitions to find someone to sing well, imitate or acting phenomenal, hidden cameras in which the affected person to die of fear, now adds another twist to unimaginable or not on TV: interview a death row before execution.

For several years, from the November 18, 2006 in Legal Henan Canal, one of 3,000 public channels that exist in China, every week Ding Yu journalist talks to murderers sentenced to death before confirming implementation in China. 

If you think this program is another program within the extensive programming of television, the idea is very misguided as millions of people sit and watch the TV show called "Interviews Before The Execution". A very unoriginal title knowing that the program is to interview a death row inmate. 

Every Monday morning Ding Yu and his research team studied the court records to identify cases. There is little time to investigate and read them all as some of the prisoners can be executed just a week after sentencing.

The journalist comments and acknowledges that "Some viewers may consider asking an interview with a criminal as he is about to be executed is cruel but it is not, they want to be heard. Some of the criminals I've interviewed have told me I'm very happy (to have been able to talk to the journalist). in prison I never found anyone to want to talk about the past", says Ding.

According to the show's producers, the purpose of this is to find cases that serve as a warning to people in general. Their slogan, which appears at the beginning of each issue is an invitation to "recognize the value of life." It is not known if any will have been able to recognize the value of life when your biggest dream was taking the life of another person. 

Of course there is corruption and smuggling in China may be punished even with death penalty. But that is not also the main objective of the program as it relies exclusively on cases of murder with violence. A very successful in recognizing the value of life. 

To get an idea of ​​the topics, Ding Yu is engraved in his memory one of the interviews in which the condemned were an engaged couple, quite young, educated, college graduates, but that does not mean anything when of education.

The plan was to rob her grandparents but something went wrong and groom, Zhang Peng, 27, the tuv to kill. The journalist says: "They were so young. Never could see the world, enjoy life, have a career, work and love of a family (...) They took a wrong decision and paid with their lives," says Ding Yu as if she wanted to save them from eternal damnation.

It should be noted that since 2007 all executions in China must be approved by the Supreme Court but may be imprisoned or even life imprisonment with good behavior, get out of jail in a few years. Something really unlikely in a country like China. 

Again, the morbidity is served to millions of people and also the controversy for the rest of citizen spectators who watch this TV show genuine cruelty in a medium of communication.