A dive into numbers

HELPS YOU FIND STORY THEY TELL

- Brendan Seery

There are, so the saying goes, three types of journalists - those who can count and those who can't..

It may be a bit of a giggle, but numeracy among journos, not to mention many "ordinary" South Africans, is not great.

By the standards of past and current reporting - and while not meaning any disrespect to my less fortunate colleagues, I know my way around basic maths and numbers, as well as a few technical facts.

Incorrect numbers can give a completely skewed picture.

Example: There is a difference in percentage and percentage points.

So, I had to point out to our sub-editors that a headline which said unemployment was down by 32.1% was not correct.

It had gone down to 32.1%, a decline of 1.4 percentage points. Understanding numbers also means logic is on your side.

The Star newspaper, back in 1995, ran a page 1 story saying two billion people had watched the opening game of the Rugby World Cup in Cape Town between the Boks and Australia.