The arithmetic for one report
The political playbook that unraveled US transgender rights in the past decade
81Moderate density of flagged expressions
What was read
2187 words in the outlet's own voice, plus 12 in the headline. 22% of the text is in quotes, with 3 listed words inside quotes. 23 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): very
, backlash
, dramatic
.
Scare quotes (a phrase of one to three words in quotation marks with no speaker in the same sentence): bathroom bill
, blue wave
, red states
, sex
, blue
, much bigger discrimination
. Since method 3.1.0 their words count as the outlet's own.
Words found
- Word choice:
controversial
1 point Contentious label
to pass and was highly controversial . When Joe Biden took office inso-called
2 points Expression of doubt
students from playing school sports. So-called red states didn’t stop at sportsessentially
1 point Editorializing
issued an executive order that essentially redefined the legal meaning of sexso-called
2 points Expression of doubt
of civil rights, by the so-called (Doge), has meant that Title IXnotably
1 point Editorializing
forward and backward, says George. Notably , some big midterm winners won for - Raises the temperature:
huge
1 point Raises the temperature
state in protest – a huge economic and cultural blow. But thisbacklash
attributed to a speaker, not counted Raises the temperature
to get ready for a backlash , according to Chestnut. Until then, theextremely
1 point Raises the temperature
But those moves were now extremely politicized. And during the four yearsbacklash
1 point Raises the temperature
of the Biden presidency, the backlash arrived as a hurricane . Byhugely
attributed to a speaker, not counted Raises the temperature
and identity documents. These were hugely impactful for the trans population, according - Attribution phrases:
experts say
2 points Vague attribution
Even though most medical experts say this is an unscientific explanation (a
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 | 7 | 2187 | 3.2 | 15.0 (words 751 to 950) | 9.1 | 0 to 40 | 77 |
| Temperature | 3 | 2187 | 1.4 | 10.0 (words 751 to 950) | 5.7 | 0 to 40 | 86 |
| Flagged attribution phrases | 2 | 2187 | 0.9 | 10.0 (words 1101 to 1300) | 5.5 | 0 to 20 | 73 |
| Headline wording | 0 | 25 | 0.0 | headline only | 0.0 | 0 to 240 | 100 |
Densest stretch: Word choice, words 751 to 950 of 2187, with controversial
, so-called
; Temperature, words 751 to 950 of 2187, with extremely
, backlash
; Flagged attribution phrases, words 1101 to 1300 of 2187, with experts say
.
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.
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 77 + 10)0.4 × (Temperature 86 + 10)0.3 × (Flagged attribution phrases 73 + 10)0.2 × (Headline wording 100 + 10)0.1 − 10 = 81. 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: Word choice.
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 | 1 (Marie-Am) |
|---|---|
| Unnamed sources | 0 (0% of all sources found) |
| Links to primary records (government, court, filings, PDFs) | 8 www.federalregister.gov, legislature.idaho.gov, americanprinciplesproject.s3.amazonaws.com, americanprinciplesproject.s3.amazonaws.com, www.whitehouse.gov, travel.state.gov, www.whitehouse.gov, www.supremecourt.gov |
| Documents cited in the text (a report, bill, ruling, filing) | 1 |
| Checkable specifics (numbers and dates) | 25 |
| Data shown (a table or chart) | yes |
| 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: 00d51ac2bd87ac6d. 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.