SENSATIONALIZED News

[Blackwater 53393]

One of the local TV news stations reported that in the last dozen years, there have been 200 “incidents” involving the weapons of air marshals, from accidental weapons discharged to lost or misplaced weapons to simple dropped or observed weapons.

 

On the surface this would seem like a big number and it was portrayed as such.

 

Nothing was said as to the number of air marshals in service, the number of flights they cover per day, the number of domestic commercial flights per day, or any reference to the percentages that those numbers represent.

.

I did a quick search and found that there are roughly 28,000 domestic commercial flights per day. Of those flights it is estimated that more than 5,000 are covered by an air marshal.  That is a little less than 20% of all domestic flights. (The numbers are estimated because they don’t want people to know exactly who or how many marshals are actually on duty.)

 

Some quick math renders these other percentages.

 

For the twelve years of flights cited,  9.1 ten thousandths of one percent, (.00091%) of flights where an air marshal was on board involved weapons incidents.

 

In that same twelve years, across ALL domestic commercial flights, that percentage is 16 one hundred thousandths of one percent, (.00016%)!!!

 

I know! I KNOW!!  I’m preaching to the choir again, but I thought it was interesting.

[Subdeacon Joe]

Amazing what can happen when you actually look at the numbers, isn't it?  In '04 or '05 "Parenting Magazine" did one of the usual horror stories about 44% OF ALL HOUSEHOLDS HAVE GUNS!  AND MOST OF THEM HAVE AT LEAST ONE THAT ISN'T LOCKED UP!!!!! 

That 44% is pretty close to what both Gallup and Pew Research came up with two or three years ago.  They were playing it up as if there are a huge number of accidental/negligent discharges caused by kids finding unsecured firearms.  

Well, looking at data from the US Census Bureau, you can guesstimate that the 44% translates to about 132,000,000 people having ready access to firearms.  In 2015 there were under 500 deaths by accidental/negligent shooting.  I'm not even gonna bother to do the math on that one.  If you look at ALL deaths and injuries by means of firearm, and even include suicides, there are about 120,000 injures and deaths per year.  Call it about .09% of all people with ready access to firearms harm themselves or others with them.  Hardly the "epidemic" the press and capons bray about.

[Chantry]

Virtually all news is sensationalized and slanted, with the major networks and the 24/7 news channels being the worst regardless of whatever political bias  they have.  It isn't about news anymore, it's about money, ratings and website hits, all used to justify the ever growing salaries of the talking heads and the senior executives.

[Father Kit Cool Gun Garth]

Statistics can be great if presented within the right context.

Typically though, in this day and age, they are used to make a point that the presenter wishes to make.

Simple example:

Asking 1,000 primary care physicians which brand of headache medicine they would recommend to their patients could hypothetically yield the following results:

 

400 - Bayer (4 out of 10)

300 - Aleve (3 out of 10)

200 - Tylenol (2 out of 10)

100 - Advil (1 out of 10)

 

So the advertiser for Advil then handpicks which of the physicians to use (100 Advil, 50 Tylenol, 50 Aleve and 50 Bayer), making sure to include all 100 that chose their brand which results in their ad that states:

" We asked 250 doctors which brand of headache medicine they would recommend and 4 out of 10 recommend Advil. "

 

The statement above is technically not false, just a manipulation of the data.

 

 

[Cactus Jack Calder]

In 1970 as an Engineering student I had to take a college course in statistical analysis. The tittle of the text book was “How to Lie With Statistics”. I guess the makers of Advil and all the major TV News Bureaucrats took that course also.

[J-BAR #18287]

My favorite illustration is the story about a track meet between Russia and the US.  

 

In the 100 meter dash the American runner won, well ahead of his Russian competitor.

 

Pravda’s headline was, “Russian runner takes second place;  American finishes next to last.”

 

 

 

[Abilene Slim SASS 81783]

I learned in my statistics class that if you’re so inclined, you can manipulate the data to prove anything you want. 

 

Statistics never lie, but liars use statistics.