We measure how the world's news covered people being harmed — and the help and hope within it.
517 of its 1,078 stories (48%) were about people being harmed, usually 25%. Rotterdam accounted for 385 of the Netherlands' 517 stories about harm, carried by 460 outlets. Reports of people injured ran at about 8 times the usual rate (55 stories). Its coverage was about twice as fearful as the world's. Anger in its coverage rose to about three times its own usual.
99 of its 229 stories (43%) were about people being harmed, usually 34%. 27 of Phnom Penh's 41 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of refugees ran at about 5 times the usual rate (9 stories). Hunger was named in 23 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual.
131 of its 161 stories (81%) were about people being harmed, usually 17%. Reports of people injured ran at more than ten times the usual rate (99 stories). Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's.
125 of its 270 stories (46%) were about people being harmed, usually 21%. Havana accounted for 105 of Cuba's 125 stories about harm, carried by 96 outlets. Reports of people injured ran at more than ten times the usual rate (19 stories).
627 of its 1,418 stories (44%) were about people being harmed, usually 34%. Reports of people affected ran at about 4 times the usual rate (116 stories). Poisoning was named in 109 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual. Its coverage was about twice as fearful as the world's.
43 of its 66 stories (65%) were about people being harmed, usually 21%. Maputo accounted for 40 of Mozambique's 43 stories about harm, carried by 62 outlets. Ebola was named in 36 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual.
364 of its 931 stories (39%) were about people being harmed, usually 18%. Reports of people affected ran at more than ten times the usual rate (309 stories). Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's.
42 of its 99 stories (42%) were about people being harmed, usually 16%. Reports of arrests ran at about 6 times the usual rate (22 stories). Its coverage was about twice as fearful as the world's.
158 of its 464 stories (34%) were about people being harmed, usually 19%. 71 of Harare's 93 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of people injured ran at about 4 times the usual rate (24 stories).
17 of its 39 stories (44%) were about people being harmed, usually 17%. 14 of Dakar's 16 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of arrests ran at about 5 times the usual rate (15 stories).
Also named far more than usual: ebola in Mozambique (36 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); road crashes in Poland (36 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); drought in Sri Lanka (35 of its stories, about 6 times its usual); poisoning in Pakistan (109 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); tsunami in Japan (45 of its stories, about 4 times its usual).
Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 24 Aug. The big dot is this day; the shaded band is a normal day (the 30 days before it). Click a day to open it. Based on 42,782 stories about harm among 196,645 counted on 24 Aug.
Mozambique's news mentioned Ebola more than ten times as often as usual. 22 in every 100 of the day's 196,645 news stories were about people being harmed, below the usual 23. In the Netherlands, 48% of the news was about people being harmed, where 25% is usual. A year earlier, on 24 August 2016, 23 in every 100 stories were about people being harmed, against 22 today.
Written by code from the day's numbers.
Countries with at least 50 stories that day.
Stories, not people.
The day's biggest events: attacks, accidents and disasters, people displaced, protests, outbreaks. Bigger dot: more stories. Ranked by the share of the day's outlets that reported it and how clearly it was about one thing, the same way for every place and year; the news data does not say who attacked whom, so both sides of a war appear where the news put them. Click a dot for its stories.
Of the stories about people being harmed, what part of life each was about. The mark is usual.
Stories that report it, not people: we count what reporters wrote, not what happened.
The words in the day's stories were softer than usual. Filled dot: today. Ring: usual.
From the words reporters used across the whole day, never one story. Fear is the weakest of the four measures. How?
Unlock a year of trends, free. Follow up to 5 countries, with a bell when their news changes, and 👍 vote for Pro — ten years of the archive, any period, daily alerts.
Create a free accountSign in · a username, an email and a password.