Comments on: Why do newspapers lie? http://www.saysuncle.com/2005/08/06/why_do_newspapers_lie/ Remember, I do this to entertain me... not you. Mon, 13 Feb 2012 16:31:15 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Yosemite Sam http://www.saysuncle.com/2005/08/06/why_do_newspapers_lie/comment-page-1/#comment-17837 Yosemite Sam Mon, 08 Aug 2005 13:15:43 +0000 /?p=6194#comment-17837 "487 people were shot to death at work in 2003" I find that figure amazing. You would think from all the media coverage of shootings at Convenience Stores and Gas Staions that this number would be in the tens of thousands. 487 people is absolutely miniscule. It shows that our workplaces are very safe places indeed and that this "crisis" is largely a manufactured one. I suspect many more people die on the way home after drinking too much at the office party then get shot at work. “487 people were shot to death at work in 2003″
I find that figure amazing. You would think from all the media coverage of shootings at Convenience Stores and Gas Staions that this number would be in the tens of thousands. 487 people is absolutely miniscule. It shows that our workplaces are very safe places indeed and that this “crisis” is largely a manufactured one. I suspect many more people die on the way home after drinking too much at the office party then get shot at work.

]]> By: bill http://www.saysuncle.com/2005/08/06/why_do_newspapers_lie/comment-page-1/#comment-17836 bill Sun, 07 Aug 2005 17:32:30 +0000 /?p=6194#comment-17836 It's obvious the liberals are out of new ideas, or even old ones that work. We now enter the twilight zone where they just start making it up. Like Dan Rather did in 1994 with the original AW ban, if the gun isn't scary eneough, improvise -- If the stats don't fit your argument, change the stats. It’s obvious the liberals are out of new ideas, or even old ones that work. We now enter the twilight zone where they just start making it up. Like Dan Rather did in 1994 with the original AW ban, if the gun isn’t scary eneough, improvise — If the stats don’t fit your argument, change the stats.

]]> By: markm http://www.saysuncle.com/2005/08/06/why_do_newspapers_lie/comment-page-1/#comment-17834 markm Sun, 07 Aug 2005 01:03:54 +0000 /?p=6194#comment-17834 I'm sure it was mostly <i>unarmed</i> gas station attendants, taxi drivers, pizza delivery persons, etc., who were shot by robbers. Anyway, if someone wants to shoot fellow employees, they only have to bring a gun to work <i>once.</i> The "no guns in the parking lot" rule does nothing to stop that. It actually makes the work site more dangerous, because it ensures no one can shoot back. I’m sure it was mostly unarmed gas station attendants, taxi drivers, pizza delivery persons, etc., who were shot by robbers.

Anyway, if someone wants to shoot fellow employees, they only have to bring a gun to work once. The “no guns in the parking lot” rule does nothing to stop that. It actually makes the work site more dangerous, because it ensures no one can shoot back.

]]> By: Ravenwood http://www.saysuncle.com/2005/08/06/why_do_newspapers_lie/comment-page-1/#comment-17833 Ravenwood Sat, 06 Aug 2005 23:35:12 +0000 /?p=6194#comment-17833 Yeah, the 487 number likely includes gas station attendents who were murdered by robbers. Yeah, the 487 number likely includes gas station attendents who were murdered by robbers.

]]> By: cybob http://www.saysuncle.com/2005/08/06/why_do_newspapers_lie/comment-page-1/#comment-17832 cybob Sat, 06 Aug 2005 17:07:31 +0000 /?p=6194#comment-17832 Thanks for a good "bad example" to use in a "numeracy" lecture to journalism students. That 487 figure is not made up -- it's straight from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (see the report below). http://www.bls.gov/iif/oshwc/cfoi/cftb0192.pdf But its accuracy is irrelevant. Notice the wording, "487 people were shot to death at work": That total apparently includes every police officer, cab driver, bank teller, pawnbroker and quicky-mart employee shot and killed "at work," whether the shooter was a fleeing criminal, disgruntled customer, armed robber -- or someone in a more relevant (but much smaller) category like "angry employee" or "fed-up manager." In this case I doubt that better stats would change readers' minds (or the editorial board's collective opinion) about issues like gun ownership, workers' rights, or corporation/employer rights. Badly-chosen or misleadlingly-applied stats certainly don't help. Thanks for a good “bad example” to use in a “numeracy” lecture to journalism students. That 487 figure is not made up — it’s straight from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (see the report below).
http://www.bls.gov/iif/oshwc/cfoi/cftb0192.pdf

But its accuracy is irrelevant. Notice the wording, “487 people were shot to death at work”: That total apparently includes every police officer, cab driver, bank teller, pawnbroker and quicky-mart employee shot and killed “at work,” whether the shooter was a fleeing criminal, disgruntled customer, armed robber — or someone in a more relevant (but much smaller) category like “angry employee” or “fed-up manager.”

In this case I doubt that better stats would change readers’ minds (or the editorial board’s collective opinion) about issues like gun ownership, workers’ rights, or corporation/employer rights. Badly-chosen or misleadlingly-applied stats certainly don’t help.

]]> By: don surber http://www.saysuncle.com/2005/08/06/why_do_newspapers_lie/comment-page-1/#comment-17831 don surber Sat, 06 Aug 2005 16:11:00 +0000 /?p=6194#comment-17831 Why do newspapers lie? Because the truth is boring. Why do newspapers lie?
Because the truth is boring.

]]> By: Thibodeaux http://www.saysuncle.com/2005/08/06/why_do_newspapers_lie/comment-page-1/#comment-17830 Thibodeaux Sat, 06 Aug 2005 13:19:50 +0000 /?p=6194#comment-17830 Well, you know something like 76% of statistics are completely made up anyway. Well, you know something like 76% of statistics are completely made up anyway.

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