Innumeracy and the Press

It’s no secret that Irreal doesn’t hold the press in very high regard. There are, of course, exceptions but too many journalists are ignorant and lazy. That seems overwrought but consider this example: Mekita Rivas, a journalist who writes for The Washington Post, among other venues, tweeted:

“Bloomberg spent \$500 million on ads. The U.S. population is 327 million. He could have given each American \$1 million and still have money left over. I feel like a \$1 million check would be life-changing for most people. Yet he wasted it all on ads and STILL LOST.”¹

There was, of course, immediate blowback along with a fair bit of snark about Rivas’ math abilities. Not to be deterred, she doubled down with:

“blah blah math blah blah people are telling me my numbers are wrong but the point still stands: he could easily afford to give everyone \$1 million and literally never notice”

So far, this is just an embarrassing slip and although it does show a lack of attention to detail and an unwillingness to revisit disputed facts, it was only a tweet. Then the press proper got involved.

MSNBC’s Brian Williams and NYT Editorial Board member Mara Gay do the math and conclude that Journalist Mekita Rivas is right, with the $500 million Bloomberg spent on ads he could have given $1 million to every American. pic.twitter.com/S9yWNqxoHN

— Breaking911 (@Breaking911) March 6, 2020

These aren’t some freelancers from the Tapioca Weekly News. They’re two prominent and well established national journalists. Gay, in addition to her anchor duties, is a member of the New York Times editorial board. And don’t forget the layers of fact checkers and the producer that signed off on this piece. There’s a graphic so the story was planned and not just an off-the-cuff remark. Notice the lede above the video: Williams and Gay “do the math and conclude that Journalist Mekita Rivas is right” so they’re not just repeating her figures. They did the math. Just not very well. And notice that the “math” here is a single division.

Whatever your thoughts about income inequality, it is a current subject of public discourse in the U.S. and elsewhere so it deserves a fair airing. That means, among other things, getting the facts right. It’s not that hard and we all have calculators on our smart phones in case the division is too strenuous. You just have to take the effort.

Adam Ozimek, an economist with Upwork has an apt final word:

If you think it’s possible for one of the richest guys in the country to give everyone $1 million, I can understand why you’re more upset about inequality than I am. But perhaps you shouldn’t be a journalist

— Adam Ozimek (@ModeledBehavior) March 6, 2020