Math Across the Curriculum...Journalism and Math
Do math and journalism mix? Yes. Everyday.
Journalists say sometimes seriously, sometimes jokingly, that they entered the profession so they wouldn't have to do a lot of math.
Fortunately or unfortunately, most working reporters have to deal with math every day.
A good reporter knows how to calculate a ratio, figure an average, locate a median and compute a percentage.
These websites can be helpful for journalists:
- Niles Online statistics every writer should know
- Niles Guide to Finding Data on the Internet
- Investigative Reporters and Editors math test for journalists
- School of Journalism and Mass Communication UNC-Chapel Hill math competency test for journalists
- Why Math Matters by Chip Scanlan at Poynter.org
- Avoiding Numeric Novocain: Writing Well with Numbers by Chip Scanlan at Poynter.org
- Learn more about budgets by Dave Herzog at The Providence Journal
- No Train, No Gain: Numeracy Exercises math and statistics toolbox cards for journalists
- No Train, No Gain: Numeracy Resources training for newspaper journalists
- No Train, No Gain: Turning Date Into Prose
- Statistics.com
- Online Conversion Convert anything to anything, 5,000 units, 50,000 conversions
- Learn more about statistics online American Statistical Association
– This handout prepared August 2005 by Dr. Anthony Curtis
Department of Mass Communications
University of North Carolina at Pembroke
Sources: http://www.ablongman.com/stovall6e/chp04/chp04.html
http://www.poynter.org/column.asp?id=52&aid=71048
http://www.poynter.org/column.asp?id=52&aid=23390