You're viewing an archive page. To see the current content on wickens.ca, please go to the main page.

14 March 2004  

Due Diligence

I just discovered this from last Spring's Ryerson Review of Journalism in an article on innumeracy in journalism:

Consider this line: “Ottawa estimates up to 16,000 Canadians die prematurely each year from pollution caused by burning fossil fuels.” This appeared in a Toronto Star article concerning the Kyoto Protocol. Contrary to the article’s assertion, the Canadian Health Coalition statement being quoted made no direct claim that all 16,000 lives could be saved if Canada ratifies the agreement to cut greenhouse gas emissions by one-third. A diligent reader informed the Star of the error and a correction followed, but the mistake demonstrates the danger of misinterpreting statistics. Credibility is jeopardized and the entire angle of a story can change.

Cool. Now, if I ever decide to put blurbs up here, I can use this:

"...diligent..." - Ryerson Review of Journalism

11:44 AM |