Numbers are not neutral: How journalists can detect deep bias & avoid hidden traps
Aug 11 2021
WHEN:
Aug 11, 2021 at 11:30am
CONTACT INFO:
Holly Grant
MORE INFO:
Journalism Institute
Numbers, like those in polling and survey audiences, population samples, and research cohorts, are not inherently objective or neutral. They are a sample of real humans and the product of myriad factors. And just because big data is big does not mean that it, or algorithms that stem from large data sets, are representative or unbiased.
How do journalists fairly use numbers in reporting? What does it really mean for a sample to be representative? In what ways can reporters vet numbers quickly and reliably for potential bias?
Join the National Press Club Journalism Institute and the National Association of Science Writers for a program that will answer these questions and leave participants with new tactics to:
- Detect deep bias in numbers before they use them
- Surface hidden traps and avoid them
- Accurately represent the people and lives reflected in the data
Registration is open for this program, which will take place on Wednesday, August 11 at 11:30 a.m. ET.
Speakers
- Fernand Amandi, managing partner of Bendixen & Amandi, the nation’s leading multilingual and multiethnic public opinion research and strategic communications consulting firm
- Caroline Chen, health care reporter at ProPublica, and 2019 winner of the June L. Biedler Cancer Prize for Cancer Journalism for her series with Riley Wong on racial disparities in clinical trials
- Dr. Kyler J. Sherman-Wilkins, assistant professor in the Sociology and Anthropology department at Missouri State University and a Mellon Emerging Faculty Leader for 2021
If you have questions about this program, please email Julie Moos, Institute executive director, at [email protected].
About the speakers
Fernand R. Amandi is the managing partner of Bendixen & Amandi, the nation’s leading multilingual and multiethnic public opinion research and strategic communications consulting firm. He manages the firm and brings over a decade’s worth of experience in research and strategic management with an emphasis in corporate, political and public affairs consulting for clients including the United Nations, the Inter-American Development Bank, the World Bank, Univision, New America Media, the White House, the John & James L. Knight Foundation, the California Endowment, US Senator John Kerry and US Senator Robert Menendez. He has also conceived, produced and edited a number of successful television commercials for B&A’s media practice including the highly regarded “Nuestra Amiga” television spot for the Hillary Clinton Presidential Campaign which Rolling Stone magazine lauded as “one of the more charming moments in the history of the political ad wars.”
Caroline Chen covers health care for ProPublica. She is currently reporting on the coronavirus pandemic. Her 2019 stories on a heart transplant program in New Jersey that prioritized metrics over patient care won the Livingston Award for local reporting. Her story on racial disparities in cancer clinical trials with Riley Wong in 2018 won the June L. Biedler Cancer Prize for Cancer Journalism in online/multimedia reporting. Previously, she worked at Bloomberg News, where her coverage included the unraveling of blood test maker Theranos and the 2014 Ebola outbreak. She received her Master’s degree from the Stabile Program in Investigative Journalism at Columbia University, where she was awarded a Pulitzer Traveling Fellowship.
Dr. Kyler J. Sherman-Wilkins is an assistant professor in the Sociology and Anthropology department at Missouri State University and a Mellon Emerging Faculty Leader for 2021. He works to empower more people of color on the university’s campus. His highlighted work, “Social Determinants of Cognitive Functioning Among Diverse Older Adults in the United States,” illustrates his research focus on aging. He was also a recipient of the 2017 Diversity Scholar Award at Missouri State University.