We measure how the world's news covered people being harmed — and the help and hope within it.
420 of its 476 stories (88%) were about people being harmed, usually 75%. Khoms accounted for 213 of Libya's 420 stories about harm, carried by 236 outlets. Reports of people affected ran at about three times the usual rate (241 stories). Respiratory illness was named in 47 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual. Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's.
137 of its 157 stories (87%) were about people being harmed, usually 74%. Mandalay accounted for 87 of Myanmar's 137 stories about harm, carried by 108 outlets. Reports of people injured ran at more than ten times the usual rate (62 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as warm as the world's.
88 of its 212 stories (42%) were about people being harmed, usually 32%. 24 of Bogota's 37 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of abductions ran at about three times the usual rate (26 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as warm as the world's.
102 of its 209 stories (49%) were about people being harmed, usually 18%. Vienna accounted for 94 of Austria's 102 stories about harm, carried by 99 outlets. Landslides were named in 15 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual.
1,008 of its 1,222 stories (82%) were about people being harmed, usually 73%. Idlib accounted for 699 of Syria's 1,008 stories about harm, carried by 641 outlets. Reports of abductions ran at about 9 times the usual rate (205 stories). Its coverage was about three times as angry as the world's.
205 of its 415 stories (49%) were about people being harmed, usually 42%. 106 of Cairo's 138 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of arrests ran at about three times the usual rate (100 stories). Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's.
123 of its 186 stories (66%) were about people being harmed, usually 32%. Beirut accounted for 89 of Lebanon's 123 stories about harm, carried by 85 outlets. Reports of people killed ran at about 4 times the usual rate (36 stories).
154 of its 204 stories (75%) were about people being harmed, usually 55%. Heavy rain was named in 10 of its stories about harm, about 8 times usual. Warmth in its coverage rose to about one and a half times its own usual.
321 of its 746 stories (43%) were about people being harmed, usually 31%. Cholera was named in 223 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual. Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's.
253 of its 1,057 stories (24%) were about people being harmed, usually 15%. Reports of people killed ran at about twice the usual rate (133 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as warm as the world's.
Also named far more than usual: cholera in Zimbabwe (223 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); plane crash in South Sudan (12 of its stories, about 9 times its usual); tsunami in Jordan (11 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); covid in South Korea (11 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); hiv in Switzerland (10 of its stories, about three times its usual).
Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 11 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 46,551 stories about harm among 203,935 counted on 11 Sep.
On the side of help, reports of volunteers ran at about twice the usual rate. Stories about people being harmed made up 23 in every 100 of the day's 203,935 stories, above the usual 21. Reports of evacuations ran at about three times the usual rate, most often about the US and Australia. For the second day running, the news turned to Libya. A year earlier, on 11 September 2017, 29 in every 100 stories were about people being harmed, against 23 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 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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