New email newsletter: Predictably bad

I have just sent out the first edition of my new email newsletter, which I plan to publish each month or thereabouts. It covers what I’ve been working on – in this issue, my data journalism course at City Lit – articles I have written and those I have spotted elsewhere, and things I am looking for help on from my many friends in public relations.

Here’s a preview:

I wanted to convince students not to treat predictions as data. An article in The Times made it easy by republishing various banks’ predictions for the FTSE-100 at the end of 2015. They ranged between 6,600 and 7,500. The straight lines are the predictions, the wiggly one is what actually happened.

FTSE100 in 2015 - predictions (up) versus reality (down)

The email newsletter also includes my map of the month, of new buildings near the Irwell that marks the border between Salford and Manchester. There’s a lot going up, both offices and residential.

 

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