Media Literacy
An election turnout percentage depends on who is in the denominator
A turnout percentage changes with the population beneath it. Compare registered voters, voting-age adults and eligible voters before comparing headlines.
CONTEXT FOR EVERYDAY CURIOSITY
Journal
Media Literacy
An exclusive news label needs a clear claim about what is new
Read an exclusive label by identifying the new interview, document or finding, then follow the evidence and original reporting.
Reading the News
Why vote share and seat share can tell different election stories
Vote share and seat share measure different results. Learn how to read an election chart without treating votes cast and seats won as the same quantity.
Reading the Evidence
What a correlation between places cannot tell you about the people inside them
A pattern across towns does not automatically describe the people living in them. Learn to spot the jump from group data to an individual claim.
Understanding the News
A rolling average smooths a news chart by remembering earlier days
Read a seven-day rolling average without mistaking it for today’s raw count. A simple numerical example shows why one unusual day can linger.
Media Literacy
Read an editorial cartoon as an argument made with images
Learn to read an editorial cartoon’s visual argument by separating its symbols, exaggeration and evidence from the event it comments on.
Reading Evidence
Survivorship bias: look for the cases missing from a success story
A success story may omit the businesses, people or projects that did not remain visible. Ask who was counted before accepting its lesson.
Reading Public Data
Age-standardised rates compare populations using a shared age structure
Understand why age-standardised rates differ from crude rates and what to check before comparing health statistics across populations.
Reading the News
An opinion poll’s fieldwork dates matter more than its publication day
Place a poll’s interviews on the calendar before interpreting its headline, especially when an important event happened between fieldwork and publication.