Does the News Reflect What We Die From?

Source: Our World in Data Published: May 2019

Source: Our World in Data
Published: May 2019

Does the News Reflect What We Die From?

Circulated: June 14, 2019

There is a disconnect between what we die from and how much coverage these causes get in the media.

Homicides are also very overrepresented in the news, by a factor of 31. The most underrepresented in the media are kidney disease (11-fold), heart disease (10-fold), and, perhaps surprisingly, drug overdoses (7-fold). Stroke and diabetes are the two causes most accurately represented. Terrorism is overrepresented in the news by almost a factor of 4000.