More Numerate: Numbers & Evidence for News Writers

What is the Numbers, News, & Evidence Project?

Quantitative data are central to the presentation of high-quality information, yet making sense of numbers has not been considered the greatest strength of journalists and many other professionals. Knowledge of numbers affects reporters writing about topics as diverse as the local school district budget to the latest scientific reports on global warming. Supplying meaningful information to the populace can be seen as a key journalistic pursuit. To date, there have been few systematic instructional approaches used in journalism schools to help reporters improve their understandings of numbers. To address this problem, we have developed a two-week post-secondary module to improve quantitative awareness, critical analysis, and evidence-based perspectives among journalism students and journalism instructors.

What can I do here?

This project was supported by the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation.