1. Our World in Data – Does the News Reflect What We Die From?
    • The media have a legal duty to inform rigorously and avoid misinformation, however, we should keep in mind that media organisations fall well short of this. A good example is that coverage of death causes is drastically skewed: homicide and terrorism dominate headlines despite their minuscule actual death rates. ![The image presents a comparison of the share of deaths in the United States from 15 causes versus the share of media coverage these topics receive in the New York Times for the year 2023. The chart illustrates a scale labeled “Underrepresented in the media” on the left and “Overrepresented in the media” on the right, with varying lengths of bars representing different causes of death.

The causes of death include heart disease, stroke, liver disease, kidney failure, Alzheimer’s, lower respiratory infections (LRIs), diabetes, influenza, accidents, suicide, COVID-19, drug overdose, homicide, and terrorism. Each bar indicates how much media coverage diverges from the actual death rate. For example, cancer, responsible for 27% of deaths, received only 4% of media coverage, indicating it was covered about 6.5 times less.

In contrast, homicides accounted for less than 1% of deaths but received an overwhelming 43% of coverage, leading to an overrepresentation in the media, quantified as 18,240 times more coverage compared to their death rate.

Data sources are mentioned: “Media mentions from Media Cloud (2025); deaths data from the US CDC (2025) and Global Terrorism Index.” The visual is licensed under CC-BY by the authors.](/assets/images/substack/178447168-50aacdd0.png)

  • Homicides make up less than 1% of deaths but receive 43% of media coverage, a 43x overrepresentation.
  • Cancer, by contrast, causes 27% of deaths but gets just 4% of coverage: 6.5x underreported.
  • Diseases like heart disease, stroke, and Alzheimer’s are similarly downplayed, all getting 4–10x less coverage.
  • Overhyped topics like terrorism are up to 18,000x overrepresented, showing the media prioritises fear over frequency.
  • Does the News Reflect What We Die From? – Our World in Data
  1. Brazil’s Forest Paradox
    • Excellent news that Amazon deforestation fell in 2025 , reaching one of its lowest levels in decades, reversing recent spikes. !
    • Yet total forest losses across Brazil, especially of non-Amazon and non-primary forests, surged in 2024. A notably absent story from the media, in comparison to widespread coverage during the previous cabinet. !
    • Fire-related losses and degradation of other forests pushed net destruction above Bolsonaro-era averages.
  2. – Why Solarpunk is Already Happening
    • A really interesting deep dive on how over 30 million solar systems have been deployed across Sub-Saharan Africa, many on pay-as-you-go (PAYG) models.
    • The convergence of cheap solar hardware , mobile money platforms , and IoT-enabled remote control made small-scale solar systems financially viable.
    • PAYG allows even low-income users to avoid upfront costs, paying cents per day for clean power, cheaper than kerosene.
    • Firms like Sun King and SunCulture now dominate the sector, combining hardware, finance, logistics, and carbon credits.
    • This model bypasses traditional grid expansion, creates second-order effects in education, health, agriculture, and sets a global template for infrastructure in the 21st century.
    • Why Solarpunk Is Already Happening in Africa – Climate Drift