If you are an innumerate journalist, either educate yourself or ask for help from someone who knows something.

At the very least, these two regularly committed journalistic sins are flat-out malpractice, if not felonies:

Comparing Nominal Dollar Amounts

For the simple mathematics of this issue, check out the Khan Academy on Real Vs. Nominal, or even Wikipedia. To write, “The building cost $5 million to build in 1950, and will cost $50 million to replace” is meaningless drivel. To write “this is the largest budget deficit ever” or “biggest box office take for any James Bond film” without applying inflation to older dollar amounts is at best stupid and at worst deliberately misleading. And the weasel words “without inflation adjustment” are just that, weasel words. The reader, listener or viewer isn’t going to whip out an inflation calculator. That’s your job.

Reporting Raw Covid Stats

Please, report health numbers on a per 100,000 basis. Raw numbers are virtually meaningless and of course certainly misleading. Of course California, Texas and Florida have high numbers!!! They are the biggest states.

See also: my journalism page