Hiding Behind Databases, Institutions and Actors: How Journalists Use Statistics in Reporting Humanitarian Crises

Abstract

Numbers have long been central to the practice of journalism. But most journalists use numbers with relatively little critical engagement. This practice presents journalists with a dilemma: how can they, and their stories, maintain their credibility when such key pieces of information are not verified? This article takes a mixed-method approach to journalists' use of numbers in their coverage of seven humanitarian crises in 2017. This includes a content analysis of news articles (n = 978) and semi-structured reconstruction interviews with journalists (n = 16). The findings highlight how journalists rarely verify the numbers they use. In place of verification, they engage in two processes. First, the constant construction of a hierarchy of trustworthy sources. Second, the discursive twinning of data with certaintyelevating databases above the most trustworthy institutional source. These two practices are aimed at ensuring the credibility of the numbers they use and maintaining the credibility of their profession by hiding behind trusted sources. These findings provide a rationale for why journalists trust certain sources over others, a detail lacking in the existing literature. It also puts forward a numbers-specific take on "strategic rituals" in the idea of "quantification as strategic ritual".

Verification and Data Processing of Open Data for Data-Driven News Stories in Lokadata.id and Katadata.co.id

“…They believe that by including the source of data in each news, the responsibility for the validity of the data lies with the agency that issued the data. This finding is in line with previous research that showed how journalists seldom verify the numbers they use, mainly because they see it as outside their role to do such work and because they 'hide behind' the perceived credibility of their sources (Lawson, 2021). His research suggested that "journalists perceive their role to be limited to the assessment of trustworthy sources rather than the direct interrogation of the number itself" (p.14).…”

Death’s common sense: Casualty counts in war reportage from Syria and beyond

“…I regularly watched journalists consult the websites of such organizations, and I often observed journalists asking sources for a total body count. In the first years of the conflict in Syria, the most widely cited source for casualty data was the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNHCR), a trusted arbiter of such data (and, often, of the meaning applied to a given conflict, see Lawson, 2021). Until 2016, UNHCR provided an estimation of those killed in Syria since 2011 (the beginning of the Syrian uprising) that collated figures from six different sources, including the Syrian state.…”

Verstrickt in der Rhetorik der Technologie-, Daten- und Medienunternehmen? Zu Problematiken im Umgang mit nicht-wissenschaftlichen Nutzungsdaten

“…Damit wird eine stetige Medienberichterstattung über Nutzungsdaten stimuliert. Der Journalismus hat generell eine starke Affinität zu Zahlen (Harrison, 2021;Lawson, 2021;Luhmann, 1997Luhmann, , S. 1099Luhmann, -1100. Es ist die komprimierte Form und scheinbare Objektvität von Zahlen, die diese für den Journalismus attraktiv machen (Curtin & Maier, 2001;Roeh & Feldman, 1984).…”

“…Es ist die komprimierte Form und scheinbare Objektvität von Zahlen, die diese für den Journalismus attraktiv machen (Curtin & Maier, 2001;Roeh & Feldman, 1984). Mehrere Studien haben gezeigt, dass JournalistInnen häufig das Zahlenmaterial aus Medienmitteilungen übernehmen, ohne dieses zu hinterfragen und zu kontextualisieren (Ahmad, 2016;Harrison, 2021;Lawson, 2021;Nguyen, 2018;Van Witsen, 2020). Auch JournalistInnen selbst nehmen wahr, dass sie Zahlen weitgehend unhinterfragt übernehmen und PR-Quellen mittels Zahlen eine starke Definitionsmacht gewinnen können (Curtin & Maier, 2001).…”

“…Auch JournalistInnen selbst nehmen wahr, dass sie Zahlen weitgehend unhinterfragt übernehmen und PR-Quellen mittels Zahlen eine starke Definitionsmacht gewinnen können (Curtin & Maier, 2001). Diese Problematik nimmt durch die enormen redaktionellen Stellen-und Ressourcenkürzungen im vergangenen Jahrzehnt potenziell noch zu (Fürst, Meißner, Hofstetter, Puppis, & Schönhagen, 2017;Lawson, 2021;Pickard, 2020).…”