Numbers can be used to tell all sorts of stories. They can help show the scale of a particular problem or issue, illustrating whether it’s big or small.
In this short animation you’ll learn:
- that just because a number looks big doesn't mean it really is
- how a really small number might turn out to be much bigger than it first appears
It sometimes helps to break numbers down to see what they really mean or turn them into something you can relate to. For instance:
- Large distances or areas can be broken down into the equivalent number of football pitches
- Large numbers of people are often represented by actual areas or even entire countries and populations
Remember to use the same basic checks you do with any story, and ask yourself:
- who is giving me this number?
- where did it come from originally?
- why is this number being used to tell this story?
- what does it tell me?
- how does this number relate to the story, my life and something I can understand?
- when in time does this number relate to? If I look at a different time, does this number change?
Learn how to use numbers in stories by trying our .
Knowing who to trust. video
In this video you'll hear from Amol Rajan, the Â鶹ԼÅÄ’s media editor, journalist Mukul Devichand and Rachel Schraer from Â鶹ԼÅÄ Reality Check.
Recognising fake news. video
In this video you'll hear from Amol Rajan, the Â鶹ԼÅÄ’s media editor, and journalists Natalie Miller, Mukul Devichand and Rachel Schraer from Â鶹ԼÅÄ Reality Check.
Checking the story. video
In this video you will hear from Â鶹ԼÅÄ journalists Natalie Miller, Alex Murray and Rachel Schraer from Â鶹ԼÅÄ Reality Check.
Lesson 1: Real versus fake news. video
This lesson will give you a broad understanding of the term ‘fake news’ and the skills and techniques to distinguish between what’s false or fake and what’s real.
Lesson 2: Sources and who to trust. video
This lesson plan will give you an understanding of the importance and use of sources and ways to identify which ones are reliable and trustworthy and why it’s recommended to use more than one.
Lesson 3: Social media, images and data. video
This lesson will demonstrate how to spot whether a social media feed is genuine or fake, to consider the manipulation of images and think carefully about how the addition of numbers to a story may not be a clear as it first seems.
