Make Numbers Relevant

ABC News Radio won an Edward R. Murrow Award from the Radio-Television News Directors Association for an investigative piece about the Big 3 executives arriving via private jets in Washington, D.C., to ask for bailout money.

The segment is full of detail. For instance, in conveying that one executive’s round-trip flight cost $20,000, the segment noted that a first class ticket on Northwest Airlines would have cost $837. It also noted that the cost represented about a half-year’s salary for an autoworker.

Today’s Tip: Make Numbers Relevant

This piece excels because it doesn’t just say that the executives who are paid millions each year flew in planes that cost $30 million to beg for billions from the government. It uses irony and juxtaposition to illustrate the point.

Find correlations between numbers and think about how you can illustrate them. For example, say you’re writing about a pending skyscraper that will be 725 feet tall. You can illustrate by saying it will be roughly half the size of the Sears Tower. Use the same technique when you’re thinking about money.