We measure how the world's news covered people being harmed — and the help and hope within it.
339 of its 472 stories (72%) were about people being harmed, usually 50%. Havana accounted for 322 of Cuba's 339 stories about harm, carried by 362 outlets. Reports of people affected ran at about three times the usual rate (313 stories). Poisoning was named in 280 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual. Fear in its coverage rose to about one and a half times its own usual.
249 of its 380 stories (66%) were about people being harmed, usually 30%. Valletta accounted for 147 of Malta's 249 stories about harm, carried by 134 outlets. Reports of people killed ran at about 4 times the usual rate (99 stories). Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's.
121 of its 441 stories (27%) were about people being harmed, usually 17%. 79 of Warsaw's 87 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of refugees ran at about three times the usual rate (7 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as warm as the world's.
68 of its 117 stories (58%) were about people being harmed, usually 35%. Tirana accounted for 55 of Albania's 68 stories about harm, carried by 48 outlets. Reports of arrests ran at about three times the usual rate (61 stories).
239 of its 400 stories (60%) were about people being harmed, usually 33%. Reports of people killed ran at about 5 times the usual rate (147 stories). Ebola was named in 139 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual, with haemorrhagic fever. Its coverage was about three times as grief-stricken as the world's.
283 of its 829 stories (34%) were about people being harmed, usually 27%. 122 of Nairobi's 172 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of abductions ran at about 8 times the usual rate (15 stories). Polio was named in 10 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual.
132 of its 153 stories (86%) were about people being harmed, usually 51%. Antananarivo accounted for 77 of Madagascar's 132 stories about harm, carried by 73 outlets. Its coverage was about 4 times as grief-stricken as the world's.
163 of its 334 stories (49%) were about people being harmed, usually 27%. Reports of people killed ran at about 5 times the usual rate (116 stories). Plane crash was named in 47 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual.
164 of its 684 stories (24%) were about people being harmed, usually 15%. 69 of Sao Paulo's 117 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of people affected ran at about 5 times the usual rate (61 stories).
59 of its 83 stories (71%) were about people being harmed, usually 62%. Reports of people injured ran at about 4 times the usual rate (7 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as warm as the world's.
Also named far more than usual: ebola in Uganda (139 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); plane crash in Ukraine (47 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); poisoning in Indonesia (33 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); landslides in Puerto Rico (102 of its stories, about three times its usual); oil spill in Trinidad & Tobago (12 of its stories, more than ten times its usual).
Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 19 Oct. 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 46,541 stories about harm among 215,976 counted on 19 Oct.
In Cuba's news, mentions of poisoning ran more than ten times their usual. A year earlier, on 19 October 2016, 20 in every 100 stories were about people being harmed, against 22 today. Cuba's news was 72% about people being harmed, against a usual 50%. of the day's 215,976 news stories, 22 in every 100 were about people being harmed, below the usual 23.
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 about as 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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