training

Journalists constantly face the challenge of explaining why things happened: What were the factors in an election victory? What are the reasons behind housing segregation in a city? What is the explanation for a low-performing school? In daily journalism, we are often content to quote relevant sources or officials, and let them do the “explaining.”

Journalists are often thought of as being “word people,” and however true that may or may not be, even the most diligent reporter can blanche when faced with a thicket of figures. But sidestepping or downplaying numbers can be perilous.

Appropriately and accurately used, they can be the very foundation of a story — a project is over or under budget; students’ graduation rates are above or below average; prices are collapsing or spiking. It can even tell you when something is fact or folly.

Journalism’s crucial role in helping democracy function is sometimes forgotten amid the clamor of partisan debate and the messy nature of the news business. But anyone who stops to examine recent examples of journalistic success — and the substantial civic impacts of various news media investigations — cannot help but be impressed by the vital role of the press.

Tell a journalist that understanding how to read a financial statement could lead to some story ideas, and they’ll likely run as far away as possible. He or she got into writing for a living to avoid numbers.

Renée Loth, a columnist for the Boston Globe, is the newspaper’s former editorial page editor. In that capacity, Loth was the highest-ranking woman at the Globe for nine years. Having covered presidential campaigns and served in various oversight capacities as editor, she’s spent a career both sorting through spin and practicing the art of informed opinion.

The job of a breaking-news lead is to accurately relate the essence and urgency of a story in the most efficient way possible. The art of a breaking-news lead is to do so in a way that’s not just readable, but also natural and memorable.

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Beginning in 1999, New York City enrolled the majority of its welfare recipients in the Employment Services and Placement (ESP) job training program. Participants spent 14 hours a week in the ESP program, focusing primarily on skills such as resume writing and interviewing.