We measure how the world's news covered people being harmed — and the help and hope within it.
756 of its 1,421 stories (53%) were about people being harmed, usually 15%. Havana accounted for 697 of Cuba's 756 stories about harm, carried by 650 outlets. Reports of people affected ran at more than ten times the usual rate (570 stories). Plane crash was named in 178 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual.
780 of its 836 stories (93%) were about people being harmed, usually 75%. the Congo River accounted for 465 of Congo's 780 stories about harm, carried by 691 outlets. Flu was named in 18 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual. Its coverage was about one and a half times as fearful as the world's.
2,237 of its 3,193 stories (70%) were about people being harmed, usually 55%. Jerusalem accounted for 1,495 of Israel's 2,237 stories about harm, carried by 608 outlets. 894 of Jerusalem's 1,495 stories were about protests or strikes. Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's.
502 of its 723 stories (69%) were about people being harmed, usually 51%. Gaza accounted for 336 of Palestine's 502 stories about harm, carried by 243 outlets. Reports of people killed ran at about twice the usual rate (332 stories).
248 of its 549 stories (45%) were about people being harmed, usually 31%. 112 of Caracas' 172 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of people injured ran at more than ten times the usual rate (58 stories). Grief in its coverage rose to about twice its own usual.
215 of its 233 stories (92%) were about people being harmed, usually 69%. Mbandaka accounted for 156 of the DR Congo's 215 stories about harm, carried by 129 outlets. Its coverage was about twice as fearful as the world's.
43 of its 92 stories (47%) were about people being harmed, usually 18%. HIV was named in 36 of its stories about harm, about 9 times usual. Its coverage was about twice as fearful as the world's.
169 of its 367 stories (46%) were about people being harmed, usually 26%. 73 of Cairo's 136 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of people injured ran at about 6 times the usual rate (41 stories).
137 of its 374 stories (37%) were about people being harmed, usually 24%. Reports of arrests ran at about 9 times the usual rate (93 stories). Its coverage was about twice as fearful as the world's.
68 of its 251 stories (27%) were about people being harmed, usually 14%. Reports of arrests ran at about twice the usual rate (8 stories). Its coverage was about twice as fearful as the world's. Anger in its coverage rose to about three times its own usual.
Also named far more than usual: power cuts in Puerto Rico (77 of its stories, about three times its usual); cyclone in Yemen (58 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); hiv in Botswana (36 of its stories, about 9 times its usual); outbreaks in Albania (23 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); storms in Brazil (19 of its stories, more than ten times its usual).
Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 18 May. 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 45,496 stories about harm among 207,116 counted on 18 May.
Cuba stood out: 53% of its news was about people being harmed, usually 15%. 22 in every 100 of the day's 207,116 news stories were about people being harmed, as usual. On the side of help, reports of vaccination ran at about twice the usual rate. Puerto Rico's news mentioned power cuts about three times as often as usual. A year earlier, on 18 May 2017, 20 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?
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