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Numbers don’t speak for themselves – yet taking numbers for granted (numerism) is widespread. In fact, journalists often rely heavily on numbers precisely because they are widely considered objective. As a team of journalists and social scientists, we undertook a qualitative exploration of clauses and entire news reports that are particularly quantitatively dense. The dense clauses were often grammatically complex and assumed familiarity with sophisticated concepts. They were rarely associated with explanations of data collection methods. Meanwhile, the dense news reports were all about economy or health topics, chiefly brief updates on an ongoing event (e.g., stock market fluctuations; COVID-19 cases). We suggest that journalists can support public understanding by: * Providing more detail about research methods; * Writing shorter, clearer sentences; * Providing context behind statistics; * Being transparent about uncertainty; and * Indicating where consensus lies. We also encourage news organizations to consider structural changes like rethinking their relationship with newswires and working closely with statisticians. 

Prior research into the conceptual underpinnings of the public's institutional trust in zoos and aquariums has suggested a range of ethical dimensions that set these types of cultural institutions apart from others in the museum sector. As the recognized holders, care‐takers, and nurturers of wild animals, zoos and aquariums are sustained at least in part by the public's perception that these activities are legitimate pursuits and essential to the long‐term conservation of the natural world. This paper builds on recent research that identified the ethical dimensions of trust in zoos and aquariums and assessed their distribution among the U.S. public by analyzing survey responses with respect to the importance of trust criteria. We hypothesized that distinct clusters of individuals, as defined by their response to trust criteria items, would emerge and that these clusters would prioritize different dimensions in their trust of zoos and aquariums. Usingk‐means clustering, we identified four relevant clusters of individuals on seven dimensions of institutional trust in zoos and aquariums. Based on these clusters, we suggest strategies for addressing what may be necessary for zoos and aquariums to claim authority as agents promoting conservation behaviors in society.

 

Zoos and aquariums play a pivotal role in wildlife conservation, including educating the public. Nevertheless, media depictions of Zoos and aquariums that emphasize animal captivity may erode public trust. We report on the first systematic survey of organizational trust in Zoos and aquariums, contrasting how people perceive the current performance of ZAs against people’s expectations for establishing trust. The largest disparities between perceptions and expectations were for items that assessed the ethical integrity of Zoos and aquariums − how well they maintain and communicate about animal welfare. ZAs can fully earn public trust by adjusting their practices and/or their messaging related to ethical integrity.