CAR RESOURCES
- Go to boot camp! The National Institute of Computer-Assisted Reporting, part of Investigative Reporters and Editors (IRE) at the University of Missouri in Columbia, Mo., hosts an annual conference and six-day boot camps throughout the year covering basic and intermediate lessons in spreadsheets and databases, as well as a brief introduction to statistical analysis and mapping. Go to http://www.ire.org/training/bootcamps/car.php for more.
- Read “Computer-Assisted Reporting: A Practical Guide,” By Brant Houston
- Read “How to Lie with Statistics,” by Darrell Huff
- Read “Innumeracy: Mathematical Illiteracy and Its Consequences” and “A Mathematician Reads the Newspaper,” both by John Allen Paulos.
- Read “A Newsroom Guide to Polls and Surveys,” by G. Cleveland Wilhoit and David H. Weaver
- Read “News and Numbers: A Guide to Reporting Statistical Claims and Controversies in health and other fields,” by Victor Cohn and Lewis Cope
About the author
Brendan McGarry is a reporter for Bloomberg News in Washington, D.C. He covers military and defense contracting. He previously worked as a staff writer and database editor at Gannett Government Media Corp. There, he helped produce projects on such topics as the controversial “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy, the rising use of pain and psychiatric medication in the military, and disparities in medals awarded during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
His work has been cited by The New York Times, Wired.com and other news organizations. He has appeared on C-SPAN, FOX News and other television and radio networks. He received a bachelor’s degree in English from the University at Buffalo in Buffalo, N.Y., and a master’s degree in journalism and public affairs from American University in Washington, D.C. Contact Brendan
