The Innumeracy Of The MSM

Via James Taranto, an example of media analytical ineptitude. This sort of thing is so typical.

The New York Times, meanwhile, is flummoxed by the math of the disaster:

At least a third of the dead were children, according to estimates by aid officials. . . . The realization began to emerge Tuesday that the dead included an exceptionally high number of children who, aid officials suggested, were least able to grab onto trees or boats when the deadly waves smashed through villages and over beaches. Children make up at least half the population of Asia.

If children make up half the population, then one-third of the dead is an exceptionally small number.