Seattle Times I-638 departures in its own voice favored No 26 to 1; unchecked quotes split 3 to 4

What this chart asks

In The Seattle Times' I-638 news coverage, which side did departures from the record favor, in the paper's own words and in quotes it left unchecked?

Why it is shown this way

• Stacked bars, one per type of departure, show at a glance which side each type favored.
• Unchecked quotes get their own bar, so readers can see that the near-even split there (3 No, 4 Yes) contrasts with the own-voice types.
• The count axis starts at zero; bars are raw counts, not rates. A horizontal layout was tried first, but FactHub charts need a numeric Y axis.

Data and accessibility

Download chart data · Open accessible table · Download PNG · Download SVG

Dataset seattle-times-i638-departures, analysis chart-by-group-side

Sources

This chart draws on the sources of the dataset versions it visualizes.

Seattle Times I-638 coverage: departures from the record, coded by side

1. The Seattle Times Primary record: the news stories whose wording is coded. Each row's url names its story.

   Retrieved October 30, 2026. All rights reserved (The Seattle Times). Short quotations only, for criticism and review; full story text is not redistributed.

   Reliability: News report. Washington's largest daily newspaper and the subject of this review. Its own published wording is the record being coded.

2. Washington Secretary of State Reference record: the measure's filed text, used to check statements about what I-638 requires and whom it covers (Sections 1 and 3).

   Retrieved October 30, 2026. Public record. Public government record; linked, not hosted.

   Reliability: Government. Official filed text of Initiative Measure IL26-638 as published by the Secretary of State; the measure itself was written by its sponsors.

3. American Academy of Pediatrics Reference record: what AAP well-visit guidelines list for girls aged 11-17, used to check statements about well visits.

   Retrieved October 30, 2026. Copyright American Academy of Pediatrics. Linked, not hosted.

   Reliability: Academic. The AAP's national guideline for preventive pediatric care (4th edition, 2017). The AAP opposes measures like I-638, but the guideline predates it and does not address sports.

4. Data Resource Center for Child and Adolescent Health (NSCH) Reference record: Washington children without a personal doctor or nurse, 2023-24, used to check the paper's 18% figure.

   Retrieved October 30, 2026. Public data. Linked, not hosted.

   Reliability: Government. National Survey of Children's Health, funded by HRSA and fielded by the Census Bureau; query tool run by the Child and Adolescent Health Measurement Initiative.

5. Hilton & Lundberg, Sports Medicine Reference record: review of strength and lean mass after testosterone suppression, used to check statements about the research. Free copy

   Retrieved October 30, 2026. CC BY 4.0. Linked, not hosted.

   Reliability: Peer-reviewed study. Peer-reviewed narrative review (Sports Med 2021;51:199-214). The authors have argued publicly for protecting the female category.

6. Harper et al., British Journal of Sports Medicine Reference record: systematic review of strength, lean mass and muscle area after hormone therapy.

   Retrieved October 30, 2026. CC BY-NC 4.0. Linked, not hosted.

   Reliability: Peer-reviewed study. Systematic review of 24 studies (Br J Sports Med 2021;55:865-872). Lead author Joanna Harper supports transgender inclusion and is quoted by the Times.

Limitations

• Counts depend on coder judgment, especially for framing; firm factual errors alone run 5 to 0.
• Only departures are counted, not accurate statements, so the chart shows the direction of errors, not how often the paper erred.
• Neutral errors (10) and excluded items (3) are not shown; they are listed in the dataset.