Does the news reflect what we die from?
Does the news reflect what we die from?
This article investigates the significant disconnect between the actual causes of death in the United States and their representation in news media. Utilizing data from the CDC and Media Cloud for 2023, the analysis reveals that while chronic conditions like heart disease and cancer account for over half of all deaths, they receive a disproportionately small amount of media coverage. Conversely, rare but dramatic events such as homicides and terrorism are vastly overrepresented in news reports across major outlets like The New York Times, The Washington Post, and Fox News. The authors argue that this media bias, driven by a preference for novel and emotive stories, distorts public perception of risks and societal problems, hindering an accurate understanding of mortality trends and public health progress.
Note
a number of worthwhile insights to continue to be reminded of:
- the news reports on what is "new"
- this creates bias which can impact our worldview
- this worldview can cause us to miss what is slowly changing
the reduction in crime could help us come together more when it comes to sending the national guard in to so many cities, the number of people dying of heart disease and accidents could help us come together when it comes to investing in infrastructure and health care.
the worldview of the individual matters and our society likely has bent it out of shape (even then, it's a hard problem to begin with even if you do subtract advertising and the human attention span).
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