# The NY Times Shows Once Again, "How to Lie With Statistics."

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ny-times-shows-once-again-how-to-lie-with-statistics/783153>\
**Category:** Great Debates\
**Created:** [March 27, 2017, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ny-times-shows-once-again-how-to-lie-with-statistics/783153 "2017-03-27T17:29:15Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 3

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\
**Post date:** [March 28, 2017, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ny-times-shows-once-again-how-to-lie-with-statistics/783153/41 "2017-03-28T16:06:36Z")

</div>

> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#):
>
> I heard there’s a worthwhile Canadian initiative to make headlines less sensationalized.

“Thousands Die During Curling Season”.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Eonwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eonwe/32/240_2.png) [@Eonwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eonwe)\
**Post date:** [March 28, 2017, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ny-times-shows-once-again-how-to-lie-with-statistics/783153/42 "2017-03-28T16:24:56Z")

</div>

Yep, this headline is “lying with statistics”.

You know who else uses a headline to imply something not in evidence? The OP. Sounds like this is just one in a long litany of examples of the NY Times “once again” writing awful headlines on non-stories.

Since this is GD; cite?

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![tim314](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim314/32/3468_2.png) [@tim314](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tim314)\
**Post date:** [March 28, 2017, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ny-times-shows-once-again-how-to-lie-with-statistics/783153/43 "2017-03-28T20:33:35Z")

</div>

> [@SenorBeef](#):
>
> OP didn’t say it was a lie, more specifically a “lie with statistics”, which is using statistics to draw misleading conclusions or to steer your audience into drawing misleading conclusions. This is a good example of that.

I agree. It’s a bad headline, a misleading statistic, and the Times deserves to be criticized for printing it, just as much as if they’d printed a misleading pro-Trump statistic.

[Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ny-times-shows-once-again-how-to-lie-with-statistics/783153.md?page=2)