It's different in not being merely "sensationalist" media, but I suppose that's a personal judgment.
I'm not sure why exactly you're bringing in politicians into this, but I will make a comment on college being a superior source of information. In regards to certain sciences and technical subjects, universities are certainly one of the best sources of information. Social sciences, I'm sure you'll agree, are quite different, depending on the professor and the information that is chosen to represent the subject. How that professor guides you through that subject can vary wildly among disciplines, depending on how their views were formed in the first place. While you can say that educators have a different overall purpose from politicians, you can't say they have completely different agendas of persuasion for their subject.
In any case, you can make a logical argument, not that you might agree with it: Given that certain parts of the justice system are vulnerable to flaws (putting the idea of "beyond a reasonable doubt" into question), and that human life is precious, execution should not be allowed on the grounds that a single unwarranted death places a taint onto the society that agrees to its function, and that any sentence should be allowed to be reversed at a later time, given proper objection to prior evidence.
Yes, it's simple, but it's a single facet, and it's not the only reason I oppose the death penalty. It seems too crude a tool to use for current civilization.
Edit: I should probably write down a complete post before clicking save.
I'm not sure why exactly you're bringing in politicians into this, but I will make a comment on college being a superior source of information. In regards to certain sciences and technical subjects, universities are certainly one of the best sources of information. Social sciences, I'm sure you'll agree, are quite different, depending on the professor and the information that is chosen to represent the subject. How that professor guides you through that subject can vary wildly among disciplines, depending on how their views were formed in the first place. While you can say that educators have a different overall purpose from politicians, you can't say they have completely different agendas of persuasion for their subject.
In any case, you can make a logical argument, not that you might agree with it: Given that certain parts of the justice system are vulnerable to flaws (putting the idea of "beyond a reasonable doubt" into question), and that human life is precious, execution should not be allowed on the grounds that a single unwarranted death places a taint onto the society that agrees to its function, and that any sentence should be allowed to be reversed at a later time, given proper objection to prior evidence.
Yes, it's simple, but it's a single facet, and it's not the only reason I oppose the death penalty. It seems too crude a tool to use for current civilization.
Edit: I should probably write down a complete post before clicking save.