April 2001

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With todays greater access to databases and other quantitative reporting tools, Barbie Hansen believes basic math competency is important for journalists.

Hansen crunches the numbers

USA Today analyst helping develop math certification for journalists

Photo by Maricarmen Josephs

Many reporters choose journalism as a career to avoid working with math. Barbara Hansen wants to make sure they can't escape it.

"I don't think a person can afford not to hone his or her skills in this area," said Hansen, the recipient of the USA Today minisabbatical for the spring semester. "It's very competitive out there. More and more people are getting math skills. It'd be foolish not to get them."

Hansen, who has worked at USA Today as a database analyst since 1990, is using her time in Chapel Hill to develop a USA Today-UNC-CH math certification program for reporters. She hopes to make this available to journalists around the country to enhance not only their abilities but also their résumés.

A basic understanding of math is becoming more important for today's journalists, Hansen said. But many reporters lack a basic understanding of such mathematical concepts as percentages, adjusting for inflation and even feeling comfortable with calculators.

The spread of technology has allowed greater access to databases and other quantitative resources that can be used to break news or enhance stories, she said. Familiarity with analytical programs such as Excel can help reporters make sense of the numbers.

USA Today places a strong emphasis on computer-assisted reporting, she said. All members of the editorial staff are required to participate in an Excel tutorial. Hansen believes this training would be beneficial for all journalists.

"I don't think the average journalist can ignore computer-assisted reporting," she said. "It's becoming too much a basic part of reporting."

Hansen's job at USA Today has required her to keep up to date with analytical software for the past decade. She began in 1990 in the newspaper's Arlington, Va., headquarters as a news assistant in the paper's Special Projects Division, helping with database projects, surveys and polling. About two years ago, she moved exclusively to the Money section, serving as its database editor.

She said her duties frequently led her to seek the aid of Phil Meyer, Knight professor in journalism, who consults and writes for USA Today and is an expert in applying statistics to enhance newswriting.

Hansen said she wanted to use the sabbatical to enhance her own skills while preparing a guide to help other reporters.

"I came down here to get a deeper understanding in statistics and their application to journalism," she said. "I wanted to enhance my own knowledge so I didn't have to call Phil for advice as often."

Hansen is taking two statistics courses, one with Robert Stevenson, Kenan professor of journalism and mass communication, and the other through the School of Education. She is also taking an art history class for her own enjoyment.

Although she is just beginning to conceptualize how the math tutorial will work in practice, Hansen has a clear idea of its potential.

"I want it to be something that can help reporters on a day-to-day basis," she said. "Journalists don't always see how math can make them better reporters. The challenge is not to scare them with math but rather let them see how it can help them."

Weekly meetings with Meyer have moved her closer toward the development of the math program, which might appear as a Web-based tutorial.

"The School is fortunate to have a teacher and professional like Phil Meyer," she said. "His presence is a clear example of the School's commitment to being a top-notch institution."

Meyer has long been a proponent of integrating more math into the School's curriculum. Two or three times a year, he said, he teaches a seventh-grade math class to journalists around the country. Meyer believes that Hansen's work is a step in the right direction toward forcing reporters to grasp basic math skills.

"It's a sign that the newspaper industry is painfully aware of the need to update reporters' math knowledge," he said. "The world isn't as forgiving of math ignorance as it used to be."

The minisabbatical program, through a partnership with the School, is offered to one USA Today reporter each semester. Reporters must apply to the program, describing how they will use the time to develop something that will aid the paper and the profession as a whole. Hansen, who will return to USA Today in May, said she has enjoyed her time in Chapel Hill.

"It's been really nice to get away from the hectic work schedule, focus on statistics and think about getting reporters up to speed with math," she said.

Bill Freehling is a first-year master's student in the news-editorial sequence.