- Giants
- Our World in Data
- US media vs death causes
US media vs death causes
Our World in Data's stacked bar chart drew 161.7K views on X: 2.7x its typical post and #12 of 139 Our World in Data charts we track by views. Read Oct 10, 2026.
What we die from vs what we hear in the news.
Why it spread
It spread because an independent author paired a stacked bar chart with a stark framing, drawing 1,099 likes, 315 reposts, 37 quotes, 455 saves, and 161,652 views, with an above average quote rate and many quotes.
What worked
- The stacked bar chart makes the gap between actual causes of death and media coverage immediately visible.
- The post text contrasts terrorism and homicides accounting for less than 1% of deaths with more than half of all media stories about death in the US.
- The chart is branded, highly self labelling, and shows a source line, which supports trust and shareability.
What to borrow
We could use a stacked bar to compare our own category totals against how often those categories appear in public discussion, keeping the framing plain and the source line visible.
Careful
Do not over read the lack of comment or points data, and do not assume the same framing will work for every topic just because this independent author got many quotes.
Written by our analysis model from the measured numbers above, not by Our World in Data.
Make it yours
Your numbers, in this grouped bar chart.
Starts from the real numbers of "What Americans die from and the causes of death the US media reports on" by Our World in Data. Replace every number with yours before you post. Make one like this, step by step
Free pictures carry a small "Made with ViralChart" line. That line is how other people find us.
API · Max
Use this chart via API
On the Max plan you can pull this chart's numbers with the provenance of each one, as JSON or CSV, with its redraw spec, or call it from an agent over MCP. Chart id 4e78c519d003.
| Path | Returns | Plan | |
|---|---|---|---|
| GET | /api/v1/charts/4e78c519d003 | Title, publisher, date, form, point count; with a Max key, the data link | Open |
| GET | /api/v1/charts/4e78c519d003/data | Every point with its provenance and confidence, plus the redraw spec. Add ?format=csv for CSV | Max |
| GET | /api/v1/charts/4e78c519d003/render?view=1 | The draw-only view this page uses | Open |
| POST | /mcp | Tool get_chart_data with this id, for Claude, Cursor and other agents | Max |
curl -s https://viral-chart.com/api/v1/charts/4e78c519d003/data \
-H "Authorization: Bearer $VIRALCHART_KEY"claude mcp add --transport http viralchart https://viral-chart.com/mcp \
--header "Authorization: Bearer $VIRALCHART_KEY"60 requests a minute per key; over that you get 429 with Retry-After. Up to 5 keys per account, made on your account page and shown once. Without Max, the data route answers 402 with a link to the plans. The numbers describe a chart its publisher owns, and every file carries a license note.
More from Our World in Data
All 139
Other giants using a stacked bar chart
All 72
Questions people ask
How far did Our World in Data's "US media vs death causes" chart travel?
161,652 views, 1,099 likes, 315 reposts and 455 saves on X, read Oct 10, 2026. A normal post from @MaxCRoser gets about 59K views.
What kind of chart is it?
A stacked bar chart. Media coverage of causes of death differs from actual causes.
Can I use Our World in Data's chart?
Use the format, not the picture. The chart, logo and design belong to Our World in Data. ViralChart redraws the chart type with your numbers and words, and credits the original publisher.