We measure how the world's news covered people being harmed — and the help and hope within it.
146 of its 168 stories (87%) were about people being harmed, usually 57%. Juba accounted for 108 of South Sudan's 146 stories about harm, carried by 124 outlets. Reports of abductions ran at about 4 times the usual rate (99 stories). Hunger was named in 83 of its stories about harm, about three times usual. Fear in its coverage rose to about one and a half times its own usual.
678 of its 1,437 stories (47%) were about people being harmed, usually 23%. Tijuana accounted for 508 of Mexico's 678 stories about harm, carried by 673 outlets. 368 of Tijuana's 508 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of refugees ran at about 9 times the usual rate (539 stories).
795 of its 974 stories (82%) were about people being harmed, usually 63%. Damascus accounted for 417 of Syria's 795 stories about harm, carried by 379 outlets. Reports of evacuations ran at about 5 times the usual rate (109 stories). Its coverage was about three times as angry as the world's. Grief in its coverage rose to about one and a half times its own usual.
32 of its 33 stories (97%) were about people being harmed, usually 17%. Reports of people injured ran at more than ten times the usual rate (29 stories). Its coverage was about twice as fearful as the world's.
983 of its 2,252 stories (44%) were about people being harmed, usually 31%. Tehran accounted for 781 of Iran's 983 stories about harm, carried by 588 outlets. Reports of people injured ran at about twice the usual rate (192 stories). Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's.
1,976 of its 2,312 stories (85%) were about people being harmed, usually 66%. Kabul accounted for 1,842 of Afghanistan's 1,976 stories about harm, carried by 1,357 outlets. Its coverage was about 4 times as grief-stricken as the world's.
36 of its 56 stories (64%) were about people being harmed, usually 35%. Reports of arrests ran at more than ten times the usual rate (17 stories). Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's.
140 of its 443 stories (32%) were about people being harmed, usually 19%. Reports of people injured ran at more than ten times the usual rate (43 stories). Cyclone was named in 12 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual, with respiratory illness.
170 of its 565 stories (30%) were about people being harmed, usually 19%. Reports of people killed ran at about three times the usual rate (87 stories). Hypothermia was named in 66 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual, with hiv and snowstorms.
62 of its 176 stories (35%) were about people being harmed, usually 24%. Reports of people killed ran at about twice the usual rate (25 stories). Outbreaks were named in 17 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual.
Also named far more than usual: volcanic eruption in Poland (71 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); hypothermia in Switzerland (66 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); plague in Austria (20 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); hypothermia in Germany (69 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); outbreaks in Ukraine (17 of its stories, more than ten times its usual).
Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 30 Apr. 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 39,930 stories about harm among 196,468 counted on 30 Apr.
Reports of refugees ran at about twice the usual rate, most often about the US and Mexico. 20 in every 100 of the day's 196,468 news stories were about people being harmed, below the usual 21. In South Sudan's news, mentions of the hunger ran about three times their usual. South Sudan stood out: 87% of its news was about people being harmed, usually 57%. A year earlier, on 30 April 2017, 21 in every 100 stories were about people being harmed, against 20 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 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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