Although they may not seem like a journalist's No. 1 priority, numbers play a huge role in reporting. Image courtesy of childof80s' blog.
Having a solid grasp of numbers is important for journalists, as numbers are constantly used in reporting and audiences everywhere must be able to digest and interpret these numbers as easily as possible. If a journalist cannot understand the importance of a number, then its readers most likely will not either. Therefore, anybody looking to pursue a career in journalism must thoroughly educate himself or herself in the language of numbers, especially the areas that come up frequently in reporting, such as percentages and statistical data.
The first chapter is useful because it is a solid introduction to the material that will be further discussed in the book. It gives a reason to the question that many journalists, myself included, ask: how much knowledge do writers need of numbers? Dr. Wickham, the author of this book, gives an explanation to this in the first chapter through useful tips. For example, one of the cardinal rules in reporting with numbers is to check the factuality and ethics behind every number found in a quote or a statistic being used in a report. Ignorance and laziness in ensuring that numbers make sense and are accurate is crucial because an exaggerated or untruthful number in an article can be disastrous.
Some other useful tips from the first chapter were style-related, such as remembering to always spell out numbers if they are the first word in the sentence and never using more than two, three tops, numbers in one sentence, as that becomes too overwhelming for the average reader to quickly process. It also went over common numerical phrases, such as the difference between fewer and less than, that were helpful to have a refresher on, as they come up frequently in articles.
Without understanding percents, journalists may wind up reporting unfairly or inaccurately. Image courtesy of adultswimbunker's blog.
Chapter Two was all about percentages, and since reporters constantly have to deal with or figure out percents to convey material to their audiences, this chapter was a good one to read. The formulas provided in the chapter are useful to memorize, as many times, journalists might get presented with data, but not the exact percentage increase or decrease. Therefore, by using the formula, they themselves can figure it out so readers don’t have to do it. Another useful component was figuring out how to calculate interest, and in what situations issues of interest would play a role. Although this is material frequently taught in early high school math or sooner, it is always imperative to be refreshed on it because interest and percentages play important roles in not just journalistic work, but in day-to-day living.
Statistics was the theme for Chapter Three and, just like percentages, reporters come into contact with statistics almost all the time. While statistics can be used to validate information and should be incorporated to established credibility and illustrate a trend, reporters must be careful, because not all sources are legitimate or truthful. Mean, median and mode are discussed in the chapter, the very fundamentals of statistics, in addition to figuring out percentiles or standard deviation. Percentiles are good in some forms of reporting because they show the relationship of an idea or a thing to others whereas standard deviation is commonly used in scientific reports and is oftentimes visually represented as a bell curve. Probability concluded the third chapter; by incorporating probability in particular case stories, such as traffic accidents, the story may become more enriched with the correct usage of probability.
By interpreting federal statistics, such as the Gross Domestic Product, journalists can convey important information from the government to the public. Image courtesy of RITA.
A subset of the concepts discussed in Chapter Three was found in the fourth chapter: federal statistics. This is a very important branch of numerical data because numbers and information provided by the government can be some of the most important statistics found in journalism. It is the job of a journalist to ensure the government is being truthful and, if a fallacy is found in the numbers they issue to the public, reporters must assuage that through their work. This chapter focused on four particular elements of federal statistics: unemployment, inflation and consumer price index, Gross Domestic Product and trade balance. These concepts may not be the most understood by the general public, so journalists must have a solid understanding of each of them in order to accurately convey information to the public. There were many useful formulas in this chapter that can be used in order to compute this information and be able to translate it to readers.
Practice Problems
- What numerical style errors can be found in the following sentence?2,486 people filed into the train station at rate of 8.23%, a tenfold increase since eight a.m., in which 682 people filed through the station, located at twenty-nine Baker St.
(The first number can be summed up in the term “almost 2,500,” as whole numbers are easier to digest. Additionally, never start a sentence with a numeral. Round 8.23 to simply 8.2, and make sure to spell out “percent” rather than use the symbol. Tenfold is a misleading term, and should not be used, especially since 2,486 is not 10 times greater than 682, which should be rounded to “about 680” or “almost 700.” There are also too many numbers in this one sentence; break down the information into two or more sentences. Finally, numerals in addresses are always spelled out: 29 Baker St.) - What percentage of communications students at SmartComm University are in print journalism if the following data was provided:
79 broadcast journalism majors
55 print journalism majors
139 strategic communications majors
98 media arts and entertainment majors
48 communication science majors
(The total percentage of print journalism majors in the communications department is 13 percent. By totaling all five majors, and then dividing that number by 55, you would get 0.13123. Move the decimal point twice over and round to the nearest whole number to get 13 percent.) - Sammy, a fashion columnist for the local paper, wanted to get the median price on an average pair of jeans in popular nearby stores. From the data below, what would the median price be?
SmartSavingz: $15.99
Bell Bottom Paradise: $29.99
The Language of Denim: $25.99
WASP Outfitters: $79.99
Outrageous Vintage: $21.99
Americana Living: $39.99
Southern Belle Couture: $45.99
(The median price of the jeans from these stores is $29.99. If you were to write all of the prices in order, from lowest to highest, $29.99 falls directly in the middle of the data, thereby making it the median price.)
4. Jordan is examining inflation of cars in the U.S. and found the annual CPI increase rate of new vehicles is 1.6 percent. If convertible Volkswagen Eos Komfort currently costs $32,940, how much will a new model cost in one year from now?
(If the CPI rate stayed the exact same, the car would cost just over $33,467 in one year. Calculate 1.6 percent of 32,940 to reach this figure.)
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