This week's "On the Media" had two segments of interest to librarians and others who think critically about stories in the media -- "Sex, Drugs, and Body Counts" and "Prime Number" both covered numbers given in media accounts (e.g. "there are 50,000 predators online at any given moment") and their dodginess. The latter (originally aired in 2006) is about that magical number of 50,000, so one of the morals is to be extra suspicious when you see that one used.
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FAIR's "CounterSpin"
After I posted the above, I went home and listened to a recent "CounterSpin," the radio show put out by Fairness & Accuracy In Reporting (FAIR), and I realized I must add a note about it to this post, since we're talking about media literacy. "CounterSpin" is so consistently wonderful and entertaining and useful -- you should all listen to it (it is, of course, podcastable) regularly, too!
Counterspin Stations
Broadcast in Ann Arbor on WCBN 88.3 FM, every Thursday at 6 pm. Other FAIR/Counterspin stations.