# I-638 media audit codebook (2026-10-23) Same method as the I-645 audit (millionaires-tax/i645-media-audit.md): measures are fixed before coding and applied identically to every outlet. We look for **omissions** and **errors** in both directions. A thin story omits facts on both sides, so omissions are always read by direction. ## The measure (ground truth, from the filed text and the AG explanatory statement) - Sec. 3(1): school/WIAA rules must bar "biologically male students" from female-only individual or team competition. Boys' and open/coed teams are unaffected. Nothing bars a trans girl from boys' or open teams. - Sec. 3(2): a girl entering female-only competition provides, "as part of the required routine sports physical examination", a form "signed by the student's personal health care provider that verifies the student's biological sex, relying only on one or more of": reproductive anatomy, genetic makeup, or normal endogenously produced testosterone levels. Any one suffices. No exam or procedure is named. No school staff role. - Not in the text: birth certificates or birth records (so a birth certificate alone is not a listed basis), any testosterone threshold, any definition of "biological sex", any age floor. Applies to K-12 interschool athletics. - Sec. 1 (findings) says physicals already document "sex assigned at birth". Correction (2026-10-23, verified at wiaa.com/forms): the AAP History Form that WIAA links, marked "STAYS WITH YOUR DOCTOR", asks "Sex assigned at birth (F, M, or intersex)", reported by the family. The Physical Examination Form and the Medical Eligibility Form ("GIVE TO YOUR SCHOOL") have no sex field, and no form has the provider verify sex. So the finding is true only in the sense that a family's self-report sits in the doctor's file; nothing sent to schools records sex, and nothing verifies it. - The pamphlet's No statement attributes the exam language to "Section 2"; it is Section 3(2). - OFM: about $21,000 one-time OSPI cost; district costs indeterminate. Effective Dec 3, 2026 if passed. ## Sample - Window: 2025-06-01 (filing) to 2026-10-23. Prioritize 2026 coverage. - Groups (fixed): **mainstream** (newspapers, TV, public radio, WA State Standard, Axios, Cascade PBS, The Stranger, AP/national mainstream); **conservative** (MyNorthwest/KIRO Newsradio, Seattle Red/KTTH, Center Square, Lynnwood Times, Post Millennial, Washington Examiner, Fox News national, Daily Wire, etc.); **progressive/advocacy** (LGBTQ Nation, The Advocate, NPI, The Stand, Erica Barnett/PubliCola, etc.). - Type: news, explainer, fact_check, broadcast (= **news**) vs opinion/editorial (= **opinion**). Bias measures use news only; opinion is reported separately (record endorsements: which side each board took). ## Measures (one row per story) | Field | Definition | |---|---| | yes_sources / no_sources / neutral_sources | count of advocates quoted or paraphrased per side (narration ignored) | | first_word / last_word | which side is quoted first and last: yes / no / none | | rebuttal | Y if the other side responds to the lead claim, else N | | headline_term | how the headline names the measure, e.g. "girls' sports", "trans athlete ban", "transgender sports", "sex verification", "genital exams", "I-638" only | | loaded_terms | loaded words in the **outlet's own voice** (not inside quotes), e.g. "anti-trans", "ban" for the whole measure, "invasive", "genital exams" as fact, "protect girls", "biological males", "boys in girls' sports" | | no_claims_unchecked / yes_claims_unchecked | claim codes below that the story repeats (quote or reporter voice) with **no** context or rebuttal on that claim anywhere in the story | | claims_checked | claim codes the story does give context or rebuttal for | | F1..F12 | 1 if the story includes the fact, else 0 (see list) | | has_error / errors | factual errors in **reporter or outlet voice** (not quotes), with the exact text and whether corrected | | key_quote | the most telling exact sentence (short) | | notes | anything notable, esp. omissions that change the reader's picture | ## Claim codes **No-side claims** - NGEN: the measure "requires / would require / forces" genital exams (stated without the alternatives) - NEXT: "most extreme" proposal / law in the nation - NBC: "bans parents from using birth certificates" (largely accurate: not a listed basis; code as checked if context given) - NAGE8: "girls as young as 8" - N510: only "5-10" (or "a handful") of trans girls affected - N147: 147,500 girls without a regular doctor - NBOYS: boys exempt / only girls verified (accurate; code but note it is accurate) - NDISC: will discourage girls from playing (prediction) - NCLOTHED: students today stay fully clothed in physicals - NMEGA: "bankrolled by an ultra-conservative megadonor" **Yes-side claims** - YDOC: physicals / primary care "already document / verify sex" (no form sent to schools records sex and no form has the provider verify it; only the family's self-report on the history form kept by the doctor) - YAAP: verification is part of care "recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics" (AAP objected) - YBIRTH: provider can verify by "birth records / medical history" (birth records are not a listed basis) - Y269: "269 placements ... 74 firsts ... 156 top-three" by male athletes in WA girls' events - YBAN: "doesn't ban anyone from sports" - YFED: federal law / IOC / World Athletics / WTA all protect the female category - YNOINV: "doesn't require invasive or expensive exams" ## Omission facts (direction in brackets) Facts that answer No-side arguments [rebut No]: - F1 the text lets the provider rely on genetics or testosterone instead of anatomy; no genital exam is mandated - F2 verification is by the student's **own** health care provider; coaches/school staff have no role - F3 any quantified male performance advantage (e.g. 10-30% gap, boys' marks vs girls' records) - F4 trans girls may still play on boys' or open teams (no one is barred from all sports) - F5 context: 27+ states have similar laws, and/or IOC 2026 / World Athletics / federal Title IX policy - F6 a documented case of a trans girl or male-born athlete placing/winning in WA girls' events, or Yes's 269 count - F7 who funds the No side (ACLU, Planned Parenthood, unions, etc.) Facts that answer Yes-side arguments [rebut Yes]: - F8 Heywood / Let's Go Washington funds most of the Yes side - F9 the AAP objected to being cited in the Yes pamphlet statement - F10 the number of trans girl athletes in WA is small (any figure) - F11 cost / insurance concern for genetic or hormone tests - F12 sports-physical forms sent to schools have no sex field, and no form has the provider verify sex (the family's self-reported sex stays on the history form in the doctor's file). Wording corrected 2026-10-23; stories were coded 1 when they said current physicals or the forms do not record or verify sex, which the corrected wording still covers. Neutral context: - F13 effective date / what happens next (legal challenge expected, Title IX lawsuit with the federal government, SCOTUS cases) ## Errors vs claims - An **error** is a false statement of fact in the outlet's own voice (headline, deck, narration, caption). Example: headline or narration saying the measure "requires genital exams" as fact. "Could require" or attributed ("opponents say") is not an error, but code NGEN as unchecked if no alternative is given. - Never call anything a "lie". Record wording exactly; the coordinator judges. - If a story was later corrected or changed (compare Wayback copies when cheap), record it. ## Output CSV columns, in this order (quote fields that contain commas; use ; to separate codes in a cell): story_id,outlet,outlet_group,date,author,headline,url,read_status,type,yes_sources,no_sources,neutral_sources,first_word,last_word,rebuttal,headline_term,loaded_terms,no_claims_unchecked,yes_claims_unchecked,claims_checked,F1,F2,F3,F4,F5,F6,F7,F8,F9,F10,F11,F12,F13,has_error,errors,key_quote,notes read_status: full / partial / unread (blocked: still list it with what is known, F fields blank).