USE OF STATISTICS IN THE MEDIA

Fri, 30 Jun 2017 12:07:44 +0000

By Prof Eustarckio Kazonga

The concept of media, in this article, is used to mean the means of communication with a large group of people. This includes broadcasting channels such as newspaper, radio and television. Statistical literacy and reasoning are required in order to fully understand media stories. Journalists, in particular, need to apply statistics in their work of informing and educating the public. Journalists use statistics to enrich their stories since statistics are part of our living. It is time to demystify use of statistics in the media and begin to see journalists appropriately and confidently use statistics to enhance stories. Most of the times mistakes that are made in news items are not getting the calculations wrong but due to problems in the application to the data and interpretation of results. The role of a journalist is not to do complicated statistical calculations but to reason and be able to interpret statistics correctly as one endeavours to inform and educate members of the public.

The relevance of statistics in mass media cannot be overemphasised. In order to ensure that stories are accurate and credible, journalists have to examine data on economy, opinion polls politics research reports, consumer survey etc. Lack of statistical methods in mass media limits our full understanding of today’s complex world. With the knowledge of statistics, mass communicators can adequately interpret raw data to their audience. Statistics is a necessary tool in mass media because it helps to estimate, make predictions, and make rational decisions. Statistics in mass communication studies does not only help present data but most importantly to interpret such data.

The current thinking is that statistical literacy should be grounded in a media context since it is in this format that the public must operate. Gal (2000) proposes a model of statistical literacy incorporating five interrelated knowledge bases with supporting elements, which include literacy skills, such as comprehending written text, understanding statistical terms that are used in media reports and making sense of tables, charts, and graphs. Knowledge also includes an understanding of statistics and an awareness of general world knowledge that provides context. The ability to think critically and reflect on claims made is also regarded as essential. Statistical literacy, as a concept, includes the ability to read and interpret statistical data in daily and other media such as newspapers, Internet, television channels etc. and includes the same data Statistical literacy certainly represents one of the aspects of media literacy, especially for a growing share of the statistical information in the media coverage, and because statistics targets the formation of attitudes in society, and hence the decision-makings that has impact on social reality too.

Data Journalism

The concept of data journalism has many definitions. One of these definitions is: “journalism practice that makes use of data”. It is also defined as presenting media story/stories with numbers. In performing data journalism, it is very important to start by thinking about how to source data itself and how it will be collected. Data has always been a platform for telling sports, financial, and economic stories. Data journalism has become a necessity in our Zambian newsrooms. Journalists and editors are slowly recognising its value in reporting on complex issues to the readers/viewers. What is required is strengthening their statistical acumen and prowess to harness data collection skills for analytical inquiry.

Currently, data in almost all sectors of the economy are slowly becoming accessible. There is need to analyse the data for readers, listeners and viewers. The media can collect data from several sources such as: Government Ministries, Provinces and Spending Agencies, statutory organisations, business, academic institutions, non-governmental organisations etc. There are tools easily available for analysis such as Microsoft Excel software. This therefore implies that data journalists have to learn the skills of analysing data and creating interesting stories to the readers or viewers. In its very basic form, data journalism deals with processing data and determining meaning in order to produce the best story. In analysing the data spreadsheets may be used to identify patterns in the data, outliers, trends that may be used as the starting point of a particular story.

Using data journalism, budgets [national, council or other organisations] can be thoroughly dissected using tools of statistics. A journalist can analyse how financial resources will be raised and how these resources will be utilised. Some readers may have phobia for numbers in a given budget but through data journalism, they can be assisted to understand the budget. One of the areas of focus can be a comparison to the previous budget. Furthermore, attention can be paid to major decreases/increases in the spending categories again compared to the previous budget. In informing the public journalists can report on trends and patterns in income and expenditure in a period of time such as 10 years or any other appropriate period.

Transforming Data

Data journalism entails transforming data that is collected before writing a story. It is said that data may speak for itself through visuals. Therefore, data visualisation is an important aspect of data transformation. There are many ways in which data can be visualised particularly through charts and diagrams such as bar chart, pie chart, line graph etc. This is illustrated in Figures 1 and 2. The trends are clearly visualised for the total fertility rates and use of family planning between 1992 and 2014. Use of family planning decreased and fertility rates decreased over this period.

Readers, Listeners and Viewers

Use of statistics in the media does not only apply to journalists but also to readers, listeners and viewers. It is therefore important to make efforts to learn and understand basic concepts of statistics. This will make one even be able to identify misuses of statistics. Particular attention should be paid to how the data was collected, analysed and sample size. For example the concept of average can be misleading if one does not fully understand it.  One person can claim that the average salary of employees is K4,000 and another one can claim that it is K3,500. One of these two can be “mean” and the other can be “median”. It is important in this case to report about “Mean Salary” or “Median Salary”. Journalists and readers need to know the difference between the two measures of central tendency.

Misuses of Statistics in the Media

It is known that numbers and statistics are important ways to “make a point” in the public debate, but sometimes deliberately and sometimes accidentally, they are used inaccurately. This can be done through graphical misrepresentations and wrong conclusions are in turn made. Misuse of statistics can be seen in some political opinion polls and propaganda. Both journalists and readers/viewers need to understand important statistical concepts. These include causation versus correlation, averages, scales and orders of magnitude, and statistical significance. Lack of understanding of these basic concepts leads to faulty reportage and citing flawed statistics. As much as is possible, statistics should not be misused in the media as this constitutes unethical practice.

Conclusion

There are many ways in which statistics is used in the media. Everybody consumes statistics. The consumption of statistics through the media channel must be fully understood. Appropriate use of statistics in the media can definitely strengthen stories. Statistical literacy can contribute to the promotion of data-based investigative journalism and ensure that it becomes an essential player in strengthening democracy. It is a citizen’s right to understand and use the information produced by society in any democratic society. Data journalism can play a very important role in uncovering trends and patterns in data presented to the public. We need to ensure that people begin to be good “statistical citizens” to understand statistics well, be able to consume the information that they are exposed to on a daily basis especially in the media, think critically about it, and make good decisions based on that information.