The arithmetic for one report
With Stephen Miller pick, Trump readies for a battle
78Moderate density of flagged expressions
What was read
748 words in the outlet's own voice, plus 9 in the headline. 16% of the text is in quotes, with 3 listed words inside quotes. 4 attribution markers (such as "said" or "according to") found.
Listed words inside quotes (not scored; quoting is reporting, but which quotes to use is an editorial choice): reckless
, extremist
, lawlessness
.
Scare quotes (a phrase of one to three words in quotation marks with no speaker in the same sentence): He gets it.
, domestic terrorist
, assassin
, gone too far
, incompetent
, warrior
, fighter
. Since method 3.1.0 their words count as the outlet's own.
Words found
- Word choice:
terrorist
attributed to a speaker, not counted Contentious label
operation in Minneapolis, a domestic terrorist and an assassin . He wouldcontroversial
1 point Contentious label
The aide driving president's most controversial policies While Trump praised Miller's effectiveness - Raises the temperature:
sweeping
attributed to a speaker, not counted Raises the temperature
aftermath of the Republican Party's sweeping defeat in Tuesday's midterm elections, Donaldmassive
attributed to a speaker, not counted Raises the temperature
federal immigration officials during a massive deportation operation in Minneapolis, a domesticdramatic
1 point Raises the temperature
the White House staffing upheavals, dramatic policy reversals and personality clashes that - Attribution phrases:
reportedly
2 points Unnamed source
He has also reportedly played a leading role in thereportedly
2 points Unnamed source
He also reportedly chaffed at news stories indicating that
Layer scores
Rates are counted points per 1,000 words of the story's own text. For a story longer than 200 words, the rate used is the average of the whole-story rate and the rate in its densest 200-word stretch, so neutral filler cannot dilute a loaded passage away. Score = 100 × (loaded end − rate used) ÷ loaded end, kept between 0 and 100. Headline words count only in the headline layer.
| Layer | Points | Words | Whole-story rate | Densest 200 words | Rate used | Scale | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Word choice | 1 | 748 | 1.3 | 5.0 (words 251 to 450) | 3.2 | 0 to 40 | 92 |
| Temperature | 1 | 748 | 1.3 | 5.0 (words 201 to 400) | 3.2 | 0 to 40 | 92 |
| Flagged attribution phrases | 4 | 748 | 5.3 | 20.0 (words 201 to 400) | 12.7 | 0 to 20 | 37 |
| Headline wording | 0 | 25 | 0.0 | headline only | 0.0 | 0 to 240 | 100 |
Densest stretch: Word choice, words 251 to 450 of 748, with controversial
; Temperature, words 201 to 400 of 748, with dramatic
; Flagged attribution phrases, words 201 to 400 of 748, with reportedly
, reportedly
.
Shown, not scored: the headline's rate minus the rate of the story's first 80 words is 0.0 points per 1,000 words. Experimental: 0 of 1 names and figures in the headline also appear in the text read.
Overall
Weighted geometric mean of the layers that are established, with 10 added to each layer first and taken away at the end: (Word choice 92 + 10)0.4 × (Temperature 92 + 10)0.3 × (Flagged attribution phrases 37 + 10)0.2 × (Headline wording 100 + 10)0.1 − 10 = 78. Adding 10 means one layer at 0 lowers the total steeply without collapsing it. A weak layer pulls the total down.
Lowered the score most: Flagged attribution phrases.
Name-swap test: with party, politician and institution names swapped, this report's score moves by 0.0 points.
What a reader could check
| People named as sources | 2 (Donald Trump, Hakeem Jeffries) |
|---|---|
| Unnamed sources | 2 (50% of all sources found) |
| Links to primary records (government, court, filings, PDFs) | 0 |
| Documents cited in the text (a report, bill, ruling, filing) | 0 |
| Checkable specifics (numbers and dates) | 6 |
| Data shown (a table or chart) | no |
| Correction or clarification noted | no |
What a reader could check, counted by published patterns. Shown beside the score, never part of it. How each count works
Checked against the official record
No vote count or bill number found in the text read.
Record of this measurement
Method 3.1.0, word-list fingerprint 807a17189402a416, read by text extractor version 4. Fingerprint of the text read: 8535b7a67b382fdd. Internet Archive copy nearest the time it was read. The text read was not kept (read before method 3.1.0, or from the feed only), so a later rule change can be applied only while the report is still in the outlet's feed.