Best practices for working with mass shootings data

Tragically, mass killings by civilians happen in many countries, from Yemen to Honduras and Norway, and include profit-motive shootings, familicide, tribal conflict, and racist hate crimes. Meanwhile, several nations in Latin America and the Caribbean — including El Salvador, Colombia, and Venezuela — feature the highest rates of overall firearms homicide.

But veteran editors say there is often confusion among data journalists about one particular subset of gun violence — “mass shootings” — which sometimes lead to wildly different numbers between outlets and editions, and deeper confusion among audiences.

Click here to read more.