Christa Pike fighting for life after surviving execution attempt

ABC News

2 Oct 2026 05:19 AEST Summary

Changed after publishing · 1 edit

2 Oct 2026 08:31 AEST the headline was changed: ~~Teenage killer survives~~ Christa Pike fighting for life after surviving execution attempt~~after 30 years on death row~~

Outlets edit stories after they go out, usually without saying so. We keep what we saw the first time.

From the report

Christa Gail Pike had been waiting to die for more than 30 years when she received her first lethal injection. Ms Slemmer was 19, originally from Florida.

How outlets headlined it

Each outlet's own headline. ~~Struck through~~: the loaded words our version leaves out. Plainest first.

ABC News Christa Pike fighting for life after surviving execution attempt plain
ABC News US appeals court pauses execution of Tennessee killer Christa Pike plain
The West Australian US court halts woman's execution one hour before plain
Brisbane Times Last-minute appeal halts US execution plain
ABC News US killer Christa Pike in hospital after attempted execution plain
WAtoday US death row inmate survives two lethal injections plain

Headline check

The one thing this headline claims is in the report.

Figures, names and quoted words in the headline, looked for in the report itself — not in the summary above. One claim in this headline could be checked, so this is a narrow pass and not a thorough one. How this is checked

This is a summary. The indicators are not. Every score on this page was measured over the full 1656-word report, which is the only way the numbers mean anything.

How it is written

Niral Score 13.6 · mostly calm mundaneloaded

10 more readings adjectives, repeated words, sentiment, sourcing and 1 more and 5 at zero

Highlighted in the text. Words that carry a fact and quoted words are not counted.

execution11court8later7attempt6day5death5injection5lethal5local5media5team5according4another4called4curtains4earlier4prison4received4skull4student4abuse3alive3clearly3computer3documents3every3get3journalist3know3legal3life3line3medical3night3outlet3outside3picture3piece3point3row3saying3second3set3showed3snoring3something3times3trying3victim3waiting3witnesses3ahead2appeals2away2back2beaten2big2body2botched2boyfriend2and 53 more

Sentiment -0.5 hostilefavourable Sourcing 76 unattributednamed sources Mood 22.7 sorrowjoyful

5 read zero: political diction, generational, gender, jingoistic, religious

Political diction 0 left-codedright-coded Generational 0 harder on the oldharder on the young Gender 0 no gendered framingframing throughout Jingoistic 0 reports to a readerwrites from a camp Religious 0 not invokedovert

How the article is written, not whether it is correct. How each is measured.

Measured on ABC News’s report as filed, which is all we may publish of this one.

How each outlet filed it

Also covered by The West Australian, Brisbane Times, The Age, WAtoday, The Sydney Morning Herald. We hold only their summary of it, not the report, so there is nothing of theirs to measure here.

Outlet	Niral Score	Adjectives	Sourcing	Sentiment	Happiness
ABC Newsas they published this story	13.6	22	76	-0.5	22.7
ABC News	9.3	3	48	-0.7	23.6
ABC News	7.2	3	80	-0.7	57.4

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The same event elsewhere

8 other outlets filed this story. The scoreboard above is what they did differently.

ABC News US appeals court pauses execution of Tennessee killer Christa Pike Niral 9.3 · calm political 0 The West Australian US court halts woman's execution one hour before Niral 4.1 · calm political 0 Brisbane Times Last-minute appeal halts US execution Niral 3.2 · calm political 0 The Age Last-minute appeal halts US execution Niral 3.2 · calm political 0 WAtoday Last-minute appeal halts US execution Niral 3.2 · calm political 0 The Sydney Morning Herald Last-minute appeal halts US execution Niral 3.2 · calm political 0 ABC News US killer Christa Pike in hospital after attempted execution Niral 7.2 · calm political 0 WAtoday US death row inmate survives two lethal injections Niral 8 · calm political 0