How the NY Times' Charles Blow does empirical work

I was listening to CSPAN this afternoon and heard this admission from Charles Blow, the numbers columnist at the New York Times.

AS THE VISUAL OP-ED COLUMNIST FOR "THE NEW YORK TIMES," CHARLES BLOW TALK ABOUT CHARTS AND GRAPHS. "I REALLY DO SEARCH FOR DATA FIRST AND SEE IF IT SAYS SOMETHING INTERESTING, SOMETHING THAT KIND OF AGREES WITH AN OPINION THAT I HAVE OR SOMETIMES SURPRISES." "Q&A," SUNDAY NIGHT ON C- SPAN.