SWNID to Reuters: Do the Math!

Here's a smallish story about ineptitude amongst the media.

Reuters today carries a story about the 9/10 cent that is charged by gas stations on every gallon sold since before your grandfather can remember. That much is unexceptional: it's the kind of story readers expect as filler around a major holiday weekend.

But the good folks at Reuters have to find a Big Oil Scandal in this:

Tests at several service stations showed that buying exactly 1 gallon of fuel (which was difficult to do because you had to release the pump handle at just the right time) resulted in a price that was always rounded up one-tenth of a penny.

An FTC spokesman said he was not aware of the agency receiving any complaints from consumers about false advertising for fuel prices.

So rounding up from 9/10 cent to one cent is "false advertising"? We thought it was how we were taught to round back in the fourth grade.

If Reuters is serious about this fractional scandal, let them improve their experimental procedure.

First, purchase exactly 10 gallons of gas (if the reporter can operate the pump with sufficient dexterity accurately to do so, given the current measurement of gasoline in hundredths of a gallon). Divide the cost by 10. See if it comes out exactly to the cost as posted, including the tenths of a cent (e.g. $27.99 for 10 gallons of gas means exactly $2.79 and 9/10ths per gallon).

Then, purchase exactly 6 gallons. Divide by six. See if the result shows that the pump rounded down after 5 gallons (as it should, if rounding is done to the nearest whole number; e.g. 6 gallons at $2.79 and 9/10ths should yield $16.79 at the pump, the remaining 4/10 rounded to the consumer's benefit).

But we urge Reuters to do this. We can't afford the experiment.