The news’s picture of death differs sharply from the statistical one

Our World in Data compared US deaths in 2023 with coverage by the New York Times, Washington Post and Fox News. It examined 15 categories accounting for 76% of all deaths, using CDC data and Media Cloud article searches.

Heart disease and cancer represented 56% of deaths within those categories but received only 7% of the corresponding coverage. Homicide and terrorism attracted more than half the coverage despite accounting for far fewer deaths.

The outlets differed, but their common departure from the mortality distribution was more striking than their partisan differences. The researchers counted articles mentioning a cause or related terms more than once, reducing incidental matches; this remains an analysis of mentions, not a complete measure of prominence or audience attention.

The authors do not argue that news should allocate space mechanically in proportion to deaths. They show why a reader’s exposure to dramatic events can be a poor guide to the relative scale of everyday risks.