diff --git a/app/controllers/articles_controller.rb b/app/controllers/articles_controller.rb
index b222eed9b..ee3117e6f 100644
--- a/app/controllers/articles_controller.rb
+++ b/app/controllers/articles_controller.rb
@@ -185,6 +185,7 @@ class ArticlesController < ApplicationController
   def stats
     authorize current_user, :pro_user?
     authorize @article
+    @organization_id = @article.organization_id
   end
 
   private
diff --git a/app/javascript/analytics/dashboard.js b/app/javascript/analytics/dashboard.js
index b3afb1cf9..c8facfeef 100644
--- a/app/javascript/analytics/dashboard.js
+++ b/app/javascript/analytics/dashboard.js
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 import Chart from 'chart.js';
+import handleFetchAPIErrors from '../src/utils/errors';
 
 function resetActive(activeButton) {
   const buttons = document.getElementsByClassName('timerange-button');
@@ -177,11 +178,14 @@ function callAnalyticsApi(date, timeRangeLabel, { organizationId, articleId }) {
   }
 
   fetch(url)
-    .then(data => data.json())
+    .then(handleFetchAPIErrors)
+    .then(response => response.json())
     .then(data => {
       drawCharts(data, timeRangeLabel);
       writeCards(data, timeRangeLabel);
-    });
+    })
+    // eslint-disable-next-line no-console
+    .catch(error => console.error(error)); // we should come up with better error handling
 }
 
 function drawWeekCharts({ organizationId, articleId }) {
diff --git a/app/javascript/packs/analyticsArticle.js b/app/javascript/packs/analyticsArticle.js
index 36b71717a..be5390f81 100644
--- a/app/javascript/packs/analyticsArticle.js
+++ b/app/javascript/packs/analyticsArticle.js
@@ -2,7 +2,8 @@ import initCharts from '../analytics/dashboard';
 
 function initDashboardArticle() {
   const article = document.getElementById('article');
-  initCharts({ articleId: article.dataset.articleId });
+  const { articleId, organizationId } = article.dataset;
+  initCharts({ articleId, organizationId });
 }
 
 window.InstantClick.on('change', () => {
diff --git a/app/javascript/src/utils/errors.js b/app/javascript/src/utils/errors.js
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..290ad9458
--- /dev/null
+++ b/app/javascript/src/utils/errors.js
@@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
+// eslint-disable-next-line consistent-return
+export default function handleFetchAPIErrors(response) {
+  // pass along a correct response
+  if (response.ok) {
+    return response;
+  }
+
+  // API errors contain the error message in {"error": "error message"}
+  // but they could be unhandled 500 errors
+  try {
+    response.json().then(data => {
+      throw new Error(data.error);
+    });
+  } catch (e) {
+    if (e instanceof SyntaxError) {
+      throw new Error(response.statusText);
+    } else {
+      throw e;
+    }
+  }
+}
diff --git a/app/services/analytics_service.rb b/app/services/analytics_service.rb
index 6dd40f22c..1a64cec3e 100644
--- a/app/services/analytics_service.rb
+++ b/app/services/analytics_service.rb
@@ -62,7 +62,7 @@ class AnalyticsService
       @article_data = @article_data.where(id: @article_id)
 
       # check article_id is published and belongs to the user/org
-      raise ArgumentError unless @article_data.exists?
+      raise ArgumentError, "You can't view this article's stats" unless @article_data.exists?
 
       article_ids = [@article_id]
     else
diff --git a/app/views/articles/stats.html.erb b/app/views/articles/stats.html.erb
index b3f4216f7..60bfdf56b 100644
--- a/app/views/articles/stats.html.erb
+++ b/app/views/articles/stats.html.erb
@@ -5,7 +5,8 @@
     href="<%= @article.current_state_path %>"
     class="rounded-btn rounded-btn--transparent"
     id="article"
-    data-article-id="<%= @article.id %>">
+    data-article-id="<%= @article.id %>"
+    data-organization-id="<%= @organization_id %>">
     👈 Back to the article
   </a>