We measure how the world's news covered people being harmed — and the help and hope within it.
86 of its 116 stories (74%) were about people being harmed, usually 33%. Freetown accounted for 78 of Sierra Leone's 86 stories about harm, carried by 99 outlets. Reports of people killed ran at about 4 times the usual rate (69 stories). Road crashes were named in 52 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual. Its coverage was about 7 times as grief-stricken as the world's.
80 of its 142 stories (56%) were about people being harmed, usually 32%. 55 of Nador's 55 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of people affected ran at more than ten times the usual rate (68 stories). Fear in its coverage rose to about one and a half times its own usual.
370 of its 467 stories (79%) were about people being harmed, usually 62%. Kabul accounted for 203 of Afghanistan's 370 stories about harm, carried by 242 outlets. Reports of abductions ran at more than ten times the usual rate (94 stories). Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's.
206 of its 477 stories (43%) were about people being harmed, usually 17%. Bucharest accounted for 201 of Romania's 206 stories about harm, carried by 8 outlets. Drought was named in 192 of its stories about harm, about three times usual, with bird flu and flu.
374 of its 416 stories (90%) were about people being harmed, usually 36%. Klaipeda accounted for 338 of Lithuania's 374 stories about harm, carried by 310 outlets. Reports of evacuations ran at more than ten times the usual rate (86 stories). Accidents were named in 190 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual.
2,227 of its 2,509 stories (89%) were about people being harmed, usually 53%. Reports of evacuations ran at about 4 times the usual rate (155 stories). Typhoon was named in 57 of its stories about harm, about 6 times usual, with storm surge and tornadoes. Its coverage was about one and a half times as fearful as the world's.
115 of its 632 stories (18%) were about people being harmed, usually 10%. Reports of people killed ran at more than ten times the usual rate (93 stories). House fires were named in 72 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual. Its coverage was about three times as grief-stricken as the world's.
61 of its 83 stories (73%) were about people being harmed, usually 27%. Reports of people killed ran at about 4 times the usual rate (58 stories). Its coverage was about 5 times as grief-stricken as the world's. Anger in its coverage rose to about twice its own usual.
394 of its 556 stories (71%) were about people being harmed, usually 41%. 104 of Ramallah's 155 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of people injured ran at about three times the usual rate (169 stories).
217 of its 232 stories (94%) were about people being harmed, usually 77%. Kismayo accounted for 155 of Somalia's 217 stories about harm, carried by 178 outlets. Its coverage was about three times as angry as the world's.
Also named far more than usual: accidents in Lithuania (190 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); house fires in United Arab Emirates (72 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); malaria in Zambia (17 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); outbreaks in Yemen (48 of its stories, about 4 times its usual); storms in Mexico (20 of its stories, about three times its usual).
Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 2 Oct. 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 37,373 stories about harm among 196,990 counted on 2 Oct.
In Sierra Leone, 74% of the news was about people being harmed, where 33% is usual. A year earlier, on 2 October 2017, 28 in every 100 stories were about people being harmed, against 19 today. 19 in every 100 of the day's 196,990 news stories were about people being harmed, 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 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?
Unlock a year of trends, free. Follow up to 5 countries, with a bell when their news changes, and 👍 vote for Pro — ten years of the archive, any period, daily alerts.
Create a free accountSign in · a username, an email and a password.