In response to my broader moral argument, Mr. Martin vociferously disavows any anti-Israel bias. “I never criticized a ‘Jewish state’ in my report,” he writes. Yet to casually place Israel on the same moral plane as Eritrea and other authoritarian countries is indeed to unfairly target the Jewish state. Nor was Mr. Martin doing Israel any favors by discounting the number of journalists detained by Hamas in Gaza: How could the Israelis be held responsible for writers detained by an Islamist movement on territory they withdrew from some seven years ago? I of course thank Mr. Martin for speaking out against curtailments of free speech everywhere. But in doing so, Mr. Martin makes no philosophical distinction between democracies and unfree states. This episode, I hope, has revealed the perils of such a position.
Behind the News
05:25 AM - April 16, 2012
Statistics and Moral Sense
A dialogue about Justin Martin’s “Which Countries Jail the Most Journalists Per Capita?”
‘See you on the other side’ - Meet Jessica Lum, a terminally ill 25-year-old who chose to spend what little time she had practicing journalism
#Realtalk: This is the best moment to be in journalism - The old stuff isn’t coming back, but that’s okay
Streams of consciousness - Millennials expect a steady diet of quick-hit, social-media-mediated bits and bytes. What does that mean for journalism?
Sticking with the truth - How ‘balanced’ coverage helped sustain the bogus claim that childhood vaccines can cause autism
An ink-stained stretch - Can Aaron Kushner save the Orange County Register—and the newspaper industry?
What to do if you find a baby bird
Expert advice
Inside Google’s secret lab
We might deplore the practice, but posting pictures of our food online is a way to bring everyone to the table
How the ‘World’s 50 Best’ list changed the way elite restaurants do business
“Every time the restaurant switched up its format, it got plenty of accompanying media coverage that let judges know they needed to return to see what was going on”
CJR's Guide to Online News Startups
Uptown Messenger – Hyperlocal news for a neighborhood in New Orleans
Who Owns What
The Business of Digital Journalism
A report from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism
Questions and exercises for journalism students.
So Martin's argument goes like this: My statistics are meaningless, deceptive, and dangerous, but in my world, any statistics are better than none. I guess making up the news is OK as long as there isn't reliable news to report? I mean, something is always better than nothing. Right?
#1 Posted by Dave4321, CJR on Mon 16 Apr 2012 at 04:03 PM
Thank you Mr. Ahmari, for shining a light of reason on Justin D. Martin's flawed and juvenile foray into statistics,
Frankly, I'm shocked that a reputable publication like the Columbia Journalism Review would even have published such a ridiculous article.
I'm amused that Mr. Martin chose to defend his misuse of statistics with such passion and verbosity. It seems that not only does the Columbia Journalism program (undergraduate and graduate) have a severe deficiency in educating about statistics and their use, but they also lack basic instruction in critical reasoning.
One blogger has commented that Mr. Martin's assertion that "ratios of imprisoned reporters to countries’ population still deliver some meaning" is so silly, that it would be equally valid to compare the number of jailed journalists to the number of registered dogs in that country.
Where is the critical thinking that one would expect from an institution like Columbia University, and an organization like the Columbia Journalism Review? Why are they not providing some critique and thought in this ludicrous piece of pseudo-journalism and professional inadequacy by Mr. Martin?
#2 Posted by J-Practical, CJR on Mon 16 Apr 2012 at 05:26 PM
Well, I researched Monarch Programming in 2002 and didn't believe my own research, so advanced it all seemed, with hazy origins in the world of military mind control, rather than civilian concerns. Ignoring some obvious indicators that had I been fully aware could have caused a sensation....I was close to Mengele, so close he could take off a glove, laugh, chuckle and say clearly in heavily German accented English...(read my blog) as he poked me in the Adam's apple....while a minder tried to capture it on a DVD camera....just imagine had I made a citizen's arrest. But I didn't believe my research until last year. Mengele now shurely dead?
Was he in Mougins? I was a tall poppy but Mengele! Anyway, journalists can be subdued with less use of direct trauma. Read Will FIler + NSA = sneeze. And that, dear reader, is an example of an inspired researcher such as to get you noticed by Mengele and his minders. Let us hope they are sympathetic to CJR
#3 Posted by Tim Baber, CJR on Mon 16 Apr 2012 at 06:19 PM
i wonder whether journalists per capita is relevant where one journalist can write about everything. Thus, the number of journalists jailed is most relevant. Moreover, the measure doesn't discuss whether the journalists are jailed for reporting or for exposing secret information
#4 Posted by simon, CJR on Tue 17 Apr 2012 at 10:20 AM
The fact that Martin insists he did Israel "a favor" simply by reporting a single fact fairly and accurately speaks volumes about his personal attitude and journalistic rigor.
#5 Posted by Catherine, CJR on Tue 17 Apr 2012 at 12:23 PM
I have read Justin Martens article, the critique, and Mr. Martin's response.
Unfortunately Mr. Martin like most of us, is fiercely defensive of his creation (article) which I'm sure he wrote in good faith.
But he also wrote it in ignorance.
Using the standards of Katharine Graham (who I was closely associated with) he should have graciously admitted his flaws and withdrawn the article. Obviously, the right statistic is based on exposure which is not national per capita but operating reporters and journalists.
Again unfortunately this adds to the smear campaign against Israel. Mr. Martin should be aware that he is responsible for the expected consequences of his work product. And since his work product is deficient he should have had the journalistic integrity to withdraw his “findings”.
Thank you for bringing to our attention both the original article in the critique.
Mr. Martin please continue your efforts. However, do not commit the offenses that you attempt to guard against. Mr. Martin: take down your article and vow that you will do better in the future .ltch
#6 Posted by LT COL HOWARD, CJR on Tue 17 Apr 2012 at 04:14 PM
This guy is fixated on blaming Israel entirely for the current regional conflict, as his purported "journalism" amply demonstrates.
We can at least take his nonsense down... What of his poor students or the taxpayers on the hook for his salary?
#7 Posted by padikiller, CJR on Tue 17 Apr 2012 at 04:20 PM
There are liars, damn liars and statistics. Having studied statistics two years in grad school and courses in developing surveys, I became an agnostic because of the authoritarian implications of numerical absolutism which detract from the barest truths available at times, as it did in this "statistic" on journalists jailed in Israel by Mr. Martin. And it was gracious that he removed those journalists jailed by Hamas in Gaza from his calculations.
#8 Posted by Jerry Blaz, CJR on Wed 18 Apr 2012 at 04:13 AM