Opposition to the death penalty increased as media coverage of the death penalty put more emphasis on the possibility that innocent people were being mistakenly executed. This is an example of a phenomenon known as:

Framing.

Explanation:

The case of framing a death penalty convict is a frequent dilemma that surrounds most cases among capital punishment criminals. Due to the increased media coverage, there can arise many more sides of the story, leading to more speculation of whether the person is guilty or not.

The media coverage leads to a massive support system for the convicts and presents an increase in the awareness of the case and the possibility of convicting the wrong man. The chance that an innocent man may be executed by a wrongful accusation has led to massive public awareness ad influence the public's opinion, thereby leading to increased speculation of wrongly executing an innocent man. This then leads to an innocent man being "framed" or made to appear guilty for the government had already made a mistake and it is easier to frame him rather than admit their mistake in public.