We measure how the world's news covered people being harmed — and the help and hope within it.
258 of its 306 stories (84%) were about people being harmed, usually 75%. Bamako accounted for 196 of Mali's 258 stories about harm, carried by 196 outlets. 102 of Bamako's 196 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of people displaced ran at about three times the usual rate (5 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as angry as the world's.
76 of its 105 stories (72%) were about people being harmed, usually 62%. Reports of arrests ran at about twice the usual rate (6 stories). Heavy rain was named in 18 of its stories about harm, about 4 times usual. Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's.
339 of its 575 stories (59%) were about people being harmed, usually 52%. Rawah accounted for 221 of Iraq's 339 stories about harm, carried by 316 outlets. Reports of refugees ran at more than ten times the usual rate (165 stories). Its coverage was about three times as fearful as the world's.
193 of its 443 stories (44%) were about people being harmed, usually 25%. Reports of arrests ran at about 9 times the usual rate (70 stories). Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's. Fear in its coverage rose to about one and a half times its own usual.
166 of its 268 stories (62%) were about people being harmed, usually 15%. Manama accounted for 146 of Bahrain's 166 stories about harm, carried by 124 outlets. 143 of Manama's 146 stories were about protests or strikes.
247 of its 414 stories (60%) were about people being harmed, usually 30%. 107 of Kampala's 120 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of arrests ran at more than ten times the usual rate (193 stories).
77 of its 89 stories (87%) were about people being harmed, usually 46%. Srebrenica accounted for 59 of Bosnia's 77 stories about harm, carried by 61 outlets. Its coverage was about three times as grief-stricken as the world's.
86 of its 170 stories (51%) were about people being harmed, usually 24%. Senglea accounted for 73 of Malta's 86 stories about harm, carried by 80 outlets. Reports of people killed ran at about three times the usual rate (38 stories).
845 of its 958 stories (88%) were about people being harmed, usually 75%. Kabul accounted for 702 of Afghanistan's 845 stories about harm, carried by 575 outlets. Its coverage was about three times as angry as the world's. Fear in its coverage rose to about twice its own usual.
2,552 of its 8,850 stories (29%) were about people being harmed, usually 21%. Reports of evacuations ran at about 5 times the usual rate (112 stories). Respiratory illness was named in 57 of its stories about harm, about 10 times usual.
Also named far more than usual: heatwave in Colombia (55 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); outbreaks in Romania (18 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); volcanic eruption in Greece (17 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); wildfires in Australia (128 of its stories, about 5 times its usual); flu in Germany (17 of its stories, more than ten times its usual).
Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 16 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 43,974 stories about harm among 205,491 counted on 16 Aug.
Reports of people falling ill ran at about three times the usual rate, most often about the US and Brazil. 21 in every 100 of the day's 205,491 news stories were about people being harmed, above the usual 20. In Colombia's news, mentions of the heatwave ran more than ten times their usual. On 16 August 2017, a year earlier, the share was 24 in every 100, against 21 today. Mali's news was 84% about people being harmed, against a usual 75%.
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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