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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.
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