Irony: Words and numbers

Here’s an irony, or maybe just a simple reason:

One of the things that readers and critics consistently say the press needs to do a better job discussing are the nitty-gritty of finances and other numerical issues. “Dig in there and make sense of that budget! Tell us what the reports on school scores actually mean!”

There’s not a lot of accountants writing in the nation’s newsrooms. My math education ended with Algebra II, because my brain just melted when it came time to try trigonometry, much less calculus. (I did take statistics in college, along with everyone on the Virginia Tech basketball and football teams.)

But I agree with the critics and readers. Someone does need to dig into this stuff, if only because we can catch (the more obvious) hanky panky and let readers know how their tax dollars are being spent in general. In the absence of a crusading accountant bursting into the newsroom — Do accountants burst into rooms? I can’t imagine that they do. — it falls to us and our algebra-level math educations.

But, wow, I need an Aleve.

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