We measure how the world's news covered people being harmed — and the help and hope within it.
299 of its 637 stories (47%) were about people being harmed, usually 32%. Tehran accounted for 229 of Iran's 299 stories about harm, carried by 164 outlets. 147 of Tehran's 229 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of abductions ran at more than ten times the usual rate (97 stories). Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's.
104 of its 163 stories (64%) were about people being harmed, usually 41%. Algiers accounted for 80 of Algeria's 104 stories about harm, carried by 66 outlets. Reports of abductions ran at about 5 times the usual rate (6 stories). Its coverage was about 6 times as grief-stricken as the world's.
177 of its 436 stories (41%) were about people being harmed, usually 24%. Reports of people injured ran at about 5 times the usual rate (66 stories). Train derailment was named in 65 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual.
31 of its 55 stories (56%) were about people being harmed, usually 22%. Reports of refugees ran at more than ten times the usual rate (30 stories).
481 of its 618 stories (78%) were about people being harmed, usually 66%. Tal Afar accounted for 310 of Iraq's 481 stories about harm, carried by 468 outlets. Reports of evacuations ran at about 9 times the usual rate (70 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as fearful as the world's.
155 of its 246 stories (63%) were about people being harmed, usually 52%. Kigali accounted for 135 of Rwanda's 155 stories about harm, carried by 120 outlets. 84 of Kigali's 135 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of arrests ran at about 5 times the usual rate (86 stories).
404 of its 520 stories (78%) were about people being harmed, usually 72%. Reports of evacuations ran at about 6 times the usual rate (74 stories). Train derailment was named in 13 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual. Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's.
830 of its 1,409 stories (59%) were about people being harmed, usually 37%. Plane crash was named in 11 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual. Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's.
413 of its 606 stories (68%) were about people being harmed, usually 46%. Reports of people affected ran at about twice the usual rate (187 stories). Drownings were named in 48 of its stories about harm, about 6 times usual.
118 of its 171 stories (69%) were about people being harmed, usually 46%. Reports of people injured ran at more than ten times the usual rate (38 stories). Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's.
Also named far more than usual: drought in Ethiopia (50 of its stories, about 4 times its usual); storm surge in Mexico (108 of its stories, about 7 times its usual); building collapse in India (432 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); meningitis in Romania (16 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); hepatitis in North Korea (36 of its stories, more than ten times its usual).
Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 31 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 49,467 stories about harm among 189,495 counted on 31 Aug.
Reports of evacuations ran at about three times the usual rate, most often about the US and Germany. of the day's 189,495 news stories, 26 in every 100 were about people being harmed, above the usual 24. Reports of aid and relief, a sign of help, ran at about one and a half times the usual rate. Mentions of the drought ran about 4 times their usual in Ethiopia's news. A year earlier, on 31 August 2016, 21 in every 100 stories were about people being harmed, against 26 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 much 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?
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