We measure how the world's news covered people being harmed — and the help and hope within it.
234 of its 293 stories (80%) were about people being harmed, usually 62%. Juba accounted for 222 of South Sudan's 234 stories about harm, carried by 214 outlets. 129 of Juba's 222 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of arrests ran at about 4 times the usual rate (167 stories). Its coverage was about 4 times as angry as the world's.
Kabul accounted for 166 of Afghanistan's 224 stories about harm, carried by 146 outlets. Reports of refugees ran at about three times the usual rate (9 stories). Drought was named in 13 of its stories about harm, about 5 times usual. Its coverage was about three times as grief-stricken as the world's.
1,809 of its 3,250 stories (56%) were about people being harmed, usually 20%. Reports of people affected ran at more than ten times the usual rate (920 stories). Earthquake was named in 1,397 of its stories about harm, about 8 times usual, with tsunami, power cuts and avalanche.
96 of its 226 stories (42%) were about people being harmed, usually 20%. Covid was named in 18 of its stories about harm, about 6 times usual. Its coverage was about one and a half times as warm as the world's.
405 of its 578 stories (70%) were about people being harmed, usually 55%. Baghdad accounted for 258 of Iraq's 405 stories about harm, carried by 259 outlets. 224 of Baghdad's 258 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of people injured ran at about 4 times the usual rate (282 stories). Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's.
126 of its 142 stories (89%) were about people being harmed, usually 77%. 54 of Managua's 66 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of refugees ran at about 6 times the usual rate (23 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as warm as the world's.
86 of its 274 stories (31%) were about people being harmed, usually 21%. 32 of Colombo's 62 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of people injured ran at about three times the usual rate (10 stories). Food poisoning was named in 18 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual.
747 of its 2,737 stories (27%) were about people being harmed, usually 17%. Reports of people falling ill ran at more than ten times the usual rate (69 stories). Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's.
232 of its 869 stories (27%) were about people being harmed, usually 19%. Reports of abductions ran at more than ten times the usual rate (39 stories). Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's.
202 of its 261 stories (77%) were about people being harmed, usually 70%. Tripoli accounted for 190 of Libya's 202 stories about harm, carried by 168 outlets. Its coverage was about one and a half times as warm as the world's.
Also named far more than usual: food poisoning in Sri Lanka (18 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); flooding in North Korea (41 of its stories, about 6 times its usual); hunger in Saudi Arabia (22 of its stories, about 4 times its usual); flooding in Ghana (12 of its stories, about 9 times its usual); hurricane in Italy (12 of its stories, more than ten times its usual).
Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 6 Sep. 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 41,680 stories about harm among 213,264 counted on 6 Sep.
Japan's news mentioned the earthquake about 8 times as often as usual. A year earlier, on 6 September 2017, 23 in every 100 stories were about people being harmed, against 20 today. In South Sudan, 80% of the news was about people being harmed, where 62% is usual. Stories about people being harmed made up 20 in every 100 of the day's 213,264 stories, below the usual 21.
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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