Post · bonfire.cafe

Information Is Beautiful

@infobeautiful@vis.social · 2 months ago

What Americans die from vs. what's reported in the media

by @ourworldindata

This infographic from Our World in Data, titled “What Americans die from vs the causes the US media reports on,” compares actual causes of death in the US in 2023 (left) with New York Times media coverage of those causes in 2023 (right). The left stacked bar shows heart disease as the leading cause at 29%, followed by cancer (27%), accidents (7.8%), stroke (7%), lower respiratory diseases (6.3%), Alzheimer’s (4.9%), diabetes (4.1%), and smaller shares for kidney failure, liver disease, suicide, COVID-19, influenza/pneumonia, drug overdose, homicide (<1%), and terrorism (<0.001%). The right stacked bar shows NYT coverage percentages normalized to 100% across selected causes: homicide dominates at 42%, followed by terrorism (18%), drug overdose (7.5%), COVID-19 (5.3%), suicide (3.8%), accidents (9.7%), cancer (4.1%), and heart disease (2.8%). The stark mismatch highlights how media coverage overrepresents rare violent causes while underrepresenting leading natural causes of death. Data sources listed are Media Cloud (2025), US CDC (2025), and Global Terrorism Index; the graphic includes a “Swipe →” prompt suggesting it is part of a carousel.

Waimea-Falls

@waimeafalls@ohai.social · 2 months ago

@infobeautiful @ourworldindata That's the press for you - all sensation and zero truth - or - "keep the peasants distracted while we rob them'...

Kevin McFadden

@n3bulous@ruby.social · 2 months ago

@infobeautiful @ourworldindata The reporting possibly depends on who the problems affected?

My mom dying of cancer vs anyone who might normally be in the news.

Dror Bedrack

@DrorBedrack@mastodon.social · 2 months ago

@infobeautiful @ourworldindata I get what this is saying, but isnt this the old "man bites dog" issue?
Of course the media will report sensational, extraordinary things. This is what people want to hear about.
It's also easier when there are clear villains and victims, and not something abstract like economic forces, infrastructure, or lifestyle.

william.maggos

@wjmaggos@liberal.city · 2 months ago

@infobeautiful @ourworldindata

does the NYT mostly mirror other outlets that most people get their news from? living near Chicago, I mostly hear about crime from other sources.

Kevin Russell

@kevinrns@mstdn.social · 2 months ago

@infobeautiful @ourworldindata

Wonderful. "Draw me a picture of NYTimes propaganda"

Fight Back Against Fascism

@PattyHanson@mastodon.social · 2 months ago

@infobeautiful @ourworldindata Does the media really expect us to believe that 18% of deaths in the United States are the result of terrorism? Seriously?