Verónica Hoyo
@vbhoyo.bsky.social
Political scientist and evaluator. Comparative political parties; survey methods; program evaluation. Always willing to talk about food. Views are my own only.
Reposted by Verónica Hoyo
👇🎯 Reporting large nominal numbers without relevant denominators is journalistic malpractice.
I really would like to hear a non-nefarious reason why reporters at places like the NYT, WaPo, or NPR can't take 10 second to tell us that the $100 billion we spend on SNAP is 1.3% of the budget or the $6 billion that went to the AIDS program in Africa was 0.9% of the budget. Love to hear a reason.
seriously, can anyone give me a reason why reporters refuse to express huge budget numbers, that they know are meaningless to their audience, in a context that makes them understandable -- such as a percentage of the budget? I NEVER get an answer to this question.
December 9, 2025 at 3:21 AM
👇🎯 Reporting large nominal numbers without relevant denominators is journalistic malpractice.
