In loving, living memory, John Melançon 1928 – 2007
Death by Numbers
We’re obssessed with plane crashes and bridge collapses, yet we pay little attention to the stuff that kills the rest of us.
by Meghan Daum
Published on Saturday, August 18, 2007 by The Los Angeles Times
http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2007/08/18/3253/
Good reference for the point that news should be about what matters – with death being a useful, unambiguous defining of important –
It's not statistically rigourous (exactly how much more dangerous is a car than an airplane per trip) and not comprehensive, but at least it does mention the third world, and describe the media situation well, if too sympathetically.