As a thought experiment this is great, but I don't think mortality is the best example. Sure, reporting on gun deaths can be written off as sensationalism, but gun deaths in the US are a stark contrast to most other wealthy societies, which makes it newsworthy. And though I do want to be informed about leading causes of death for the elderly (since I hope to be one someday), I'm much more interested in things that are killing people prematurely, suddenly or unexpectedly.