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Florida executes James Robertson, who said he killed his cellmate to get the death penalty

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Coverage spectrum

Covered by 10 outlets across the spectrum.

11 articles in total. The spectrum counts each outlet once and leaves opinion out. How we measure bias

Entrance sign for Florida State Prison with Department of Corrections, prison buildings and vehicles behind.
Image via The Washington TimesHow images are chosenReport this image

The Associated Press, The New York Times, The Guardian and Breitbart report that Florida executed James Robertson on Tuesday for killing his cellmate, Frank Hart, nearly 18 years earlier. Robertson said he killed Hart so that he would be sentenced to death, and Breitbart reports that he had pleaded guilty to first-degree murder and waived his appeals. The execution was Florida’s 17th this year and its first since a failed lethal injection of Christa Pike in Tennessee, the outlets say. The New York Post reports that Robertson declined to make a final statement.

Headline and summary written by Mantle’s AI from the coverage below, under published rules. How this works

What happened

Key points

Each point shows who reports it, from Far Left to Far Right.

  1. Florida executed James Robertson on Tuesday for killing his cellmate.

    Reported byLeft3Center1Right2Far Right1See the outletsHide the outlets
    Left
    ABC News, The New York Times, The Guardian
    Center
    PBS NewsHour
    Right
    The Washington Times, New York Post
    Far Right
    Breitbart News

  2. Robertson said he killed his cellmate so that he would be sentenced to death.

    Reported byLeft2Center1Right2Far Right2See the outletsHide the outlets
    Left
    ABC News, The New York Times
    Center
    PBS NewsHour
    Right
    The Washington Times, New York Post
    Far Right
    Just the News, Breitbart News

  3. The execution came nearly 18 years after the attack.

    Reported byLeft1Center1Right2Far Right1See the outletsHide the outlets
    Left
    ABC News
    Center
    PBS NewsHour
    Right
    The Washington Times, New York Post
    Far Right
    Breitbart News

  4. It was Florida’s 17th execution of the year.

    Reported byLeft2Center1Right1Far Right1See the outletsHide the outlets
    Left
    The New York Times, The Guardian
    Center
    PBS NewsHour
    Right
    New York Post
    Far Right
    Breitbart News

  5. It was Florida’s first execution since a failed lethal injection of Christa Pike in Tennessee.

    Reported byLeft2Center1Right1See the outletsHide the outlets
    Left
    The New York Times, The Guardian
    Center
    PBS NewsHour
    Right
    New York Post

What is contested

Where accounts differ

Points the coverage does not agree on, and who says what.

  • How Robertson was executed

    Breitbart and the New York Post say a three-drug injection; The Guardian says a three-shot series of lethal injections and places the prison at Raiford rather than near Starke.

How each side tells it

Compare views

All three sides report that Florida executed James Robertson, who said he killed his cellmate to get the death penalty. Left headlines stress the botched Tennessee execution of Christa Pike, right headlines stress Robertson’s admitted motive, and the center headline gives the facts and the year’s count.

  • the left

    4 outlets

    Left-side headlines lead with the botched Tennessee lethal injection and the scrutiny it drew, framing Florida’s execution as following that botch; the ABC headline is an AP wire report.

    Florida Executes First Prisoner Since Sensational language“Botched Injection”The AP copy describes the same Tennessee attempt neutrally as a failed execution attempt; “botched” adds a verdict on how it was carried out.More neutral: Injection that failedDisagree with this highlight? in Tennessee
    The New York TimesLeftAll left-leaning headlines

  • the center

    1 outlet

    Center’s only coverage is an AP report published by PBS NewsHour, whose headline states the execution and motive plainly and gives the year’s count.

  • the right

    5 outlets

    Right-side headlines put Robertson’s admitted motive first, often with ‘to get the death penalty’; Far Right headlines lead with the scheduled execution and omit the Tennessee case; two right-side headlines are AP reports.

    Florida: Prisoner Who Killed Cellmate to Get Death Sentence Set for Execution
    Breitbart NewsFar RightAll right-leaning headlines

The words they chose

Language to notice

Words that carry a judgement beyond the facts. Tap a highlighted word anywhere on the page to see why.

  • Left1

    Botched Injection

  • Center0

    No loaded words in its own voice.

  • Right1

    admitted

In the outlets’ own words

  • Sensational language

    Botched InjectionMore neutral: Injection that failed

    The AP copy describes the same Tennessee attempt neutrally as a failed execution attempt; “botched” adds a verdict on how it was carried out.

    Florida Executes First Prisoner Since Botched Injection in Tennessee

    Used byThe New York Times (Left)

  • Loaded verb

    admittedMore neutral: said he killed

    ‘Admitted’ frames Robertson’s statement as a confession, where ‘said’ reports the same fact without that weight.

    Florida executes inmate who admitted to killing cellmate to get the death penalty

    Used byNew York Post (Right)

See the full language guide

See for yourself

Side by side

What each side leads with and what it leaves out. Open a side to read its headlines.

From the left

4 outlets

Leads with

  • botched Tennessee execution of Christa Pike
  • scrutiny of lethal injection
  • Florida’s 17th execution this year

Leaves out

  • Robertson’s guilty plea and waiver of appeals

Reported by other sides, not found in this side’s coverage.

See the 4 headlines from the leftHide the headlines
  • The Washington PostLeft

    Florida executes inmate with same method Tennessee used in botched Pike case

    James Robertson’s execution, Florida’s 17th this year, came less than two weeks after Christa Pike survived two doses of pentobarbital.

    Read at The Washington Post (opens in a new tab)
  • The GuardianLeft

    Florida carries out execution amid scrutiny over botched Tennessee attempt

    James Robertson was the state’s 17th execution this year, amid scrutiny over Tennessee’s failed lethal injection of Christa Pike US plan to livestream execution elicits global condemnation Florida put to death a convicted murderer in the state’s first execution since September’s …

    Read at The Guardian (opens in a new tab)
  • The New York TimesLeft

    Florida Executes First Prisoner Since Sensational language“Botched Injection”The AP copy describes the same Tennessee attempt neutrally as a failed execution attempt; “botched” adds a verdict on how it was carried out.More neutral: Injection that failedDisagree with this highlight? in Tennessee

    The execution of James Robertson, who said he deliberately killed another inmate to get on death row, was Florida’s 17th this year.

    Read at The New York Times (opens in a new tab)
  • ABC NewsLeftAssociated Press report

    Florida to execute prisoner who killed cellmate in hopes of getting a death sentence

    A Florida prisoner who claimed he killed his cellmate so he could be moved to death row is set to be executed, nearly 18 years after the fatal attack

    Read at ABC News (opens in a new tab)

From the center

1 outlet

Leads with

  • plain statement of the execution
  • Robertson’s stated motive
  • Florida’s 17th execution this year

Leaves out

  • Tennessee’s failed execution of Christa Pike

Reported by other sides, not found in this side’s coverage.

See the headline from the centerHide the headlines
  • PBS NewsHourCenterAssociated Press report

    Florida executed a prisoner who killed his cellmate in hopes of getting a death sentence. It's the state's 17th execution of the year

    PBS NewsHour published a report that is shown in full at New York Post. The headline is the one PBS NewsHour gave it.

    Read at PBS NewsHour (opens in a new tab)

From the right

5 outlets

Leads with

  • Robertson’s admitted motive
  • strangling of the cellmate
  • scheduled execution date
See the 5 headlines from the rightHide the headlines

Articles you open from here build My Mix, a private picture of how your reading spreads across the spectrum, kept on this device. What is My Mix?

The left is Far Left and Left together. The right is Right and Far Right together. Every outlet keeps its own five-point rating.

Who reported it when

How the coverage built up

  • Left

    First to report

    ABC News, Oct 13, 2:12 AM EDT

  • Center

    16 hr 16 min later

    Its first report, Oct 13, 6:27 PM EDT

  • Right

    10 hr 33 min later

    Its first report, Oct 13, 12:45 PM EDT

See the order the outlets reported inHide the order
  1. ABC NewsLeftOct 13, 2:12 AM EDT
  2. The Washington TimesRightOct 13, 12:45 PM EDT
  3. The New York TimesLeftOct 13, 1:08 PM EDT
  4. Breitbart NewsFar RightOct 13, 1:17 PM EDT
  5. The GuardianLeftOct 13, 1:41 PM EDT
  6. New York PostRightOct 13, 4:41 PM EDT
  7. The Washington PostLeftOct 13, 5:17 PM EDT
  8. PBS NewsHourCenterOct 13, 6:27 PM EDT
  9. Fox NewsFar RightOct 13, 9:48 PM EDT

Times are the ones the outlets published in their own feeds, in Eastern time. Opinion is left out. Just the News gave only a date, so it is not placed.

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