Policy Corner: Why data is important in our reporting

For a journalist, there is nothing quite like having data to support your reporting.

He-said/she-said stories sometimes are unavoidable. Who is a reader to believe?

Data always helps make the reporting stronger. It adds a layer of trustworthiness.

Jake Griffin is our Suburban Tax Watchdog editor. But that's not all he does.

What's almost universal about Jake's reporting - whether it be taxation issues, the COVID-19 pandemic or special projects - is that it is derived from or supported by data.

It's a "show - don't tell" philosophy.

There's the study he did on beating deaths of toddlers, which accompanied our series on the tragic death of A.J. Freund. It became a story because the data showed something that we hadn't been noticed before.

There is his coverage of multiple public pensions. And a slew of stories he has done on video gambling and legalized marijuana sales.

Mark Twain popularized "Lies, damned lies, and statistics" to describe the persuasive power of numbers and how they are often misused to prop up faulty arguments. Add lies of omission to that statement.

A quality news operation doesn't pick and choose data to try to satisfy a certain outcome: it tries to tell the truth with them. And that's what we endeavor to do every day.