Ed Bott:

I love data-driven journalism more than just about anyone, but Chitikas numbers don’t pass the sniff test. Ive avoided writing stories based on Chitikas many press releases precisely because I couldnt find any evidence that the numbers were reliable, trustworthy, consistent, or meaningful. On the contrary, the numbers have frequently been just laughably inconsistent.

It’s appalling to me how much of this stuff gets reported as gospel. Actually, no, that’s the wrong word. It’s appalling to me how much of this stuff gets reported as science.