In 2001, Lichter and his staff published It Ain't Necessarily So, a book about the media's coverage of a range of topics from crime statistics to the 2001 anthrax attacks.

The Philadelphia Inquirer called it "a solid critique of the way data-based reports and studies are presented in the media",[2] while Salon.com felt that the book employed "the very same tactics that it finds so objectionable when used by journalists and publishers".

[10][13] The first director of STATS was David Murray, who previously worked for The Heritage Foundation and was later chief scientist for the U.S. Office of National Drug Control Policy.

[5] STATS produced an annual list called the "Dubious Data Awards", highlighting egregious factual inaccuracies in news reporting.

In 2006, it challenged a study by the Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse, used by The New York Times and Forbes, which claimed that almost half of the alcohol industry's revenue came from underage drinkers.

[18] Goldin lectures at universities and colleges across the country about the use and misuse of statistics, and was a Nifty Fifty Speaker for the U.S. Science and Engineering Festival in both 2012 and 2014.