We measure how the world's news covered people being harmed — and the help and hope within it.
174 of its 279 stories (62%) were about people being harmed, usually 33%. Reports of people affected ran at about 4 times the usual rate (17 stories). Tornadoes were named in 17 of its stories about harm, about 4 times usual, with heavy rain. Anger in its coverage rose to about one and a half times its own usual.
66 of its 138 stories (48%) were about people being harmed, usually 15%. Pyongyang accounted for 59 of North Korea's 66 stories about harm, carried by 78 outlets. Reports of people killed ran at more than ten times the usual rate (55 stories). Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's.
41 of its 80 stories (51%) were about people being harmed, usually 40%. 19 of Kigali's 29 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of arrests ran at about 4 times the usual rate (15 stories). Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's.
74 of its 86 stories (86%) were about people being harmed, usually 65%. Bird flu was named in 10 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual, with flu. Its coverage was about one and a half times as grief-stricken as the world's.
324 of its 521 stories (62%) were about people being harmed, usually 36%. Tehran accounted for 191 of Iran's 324 stories about harm, carried by 148 outlets. Reports of evacuations ran at more than ten times the usual rate (67 stories). Grief in its coverage rose to about one and a half times its own usual.
136 of its 227 stories (60%) were about people being harmed, usually 35%. Kathmandu accounted for 90 of Nepal's 136 stories about harm, carried by 136 outlets. Reports of people injured ran at about three times the usual rate (101 stories). Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's.
Managua accounted for 28 of Nicaragua's 32 stories about harm, carried by 27 outlets. 27 of Managua's 28 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of refugees ran at more than ten times the usual rate (21 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as fearful as the world's.
211 of its 552 stories (38%) were about people being harmed, usually 28%. Reports of people killed ran at about twice the usual rate (128 stories). Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's.
142 of its 698 stories (20%) were about people being harmed, usually 12%. Reports of people affected ran at about twice the usual rate (30 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as fearful as the world's.
32 of its 118 stories (27%) were about people being harmed, usually 17%. Reports of abductions ran at more than ten times the usual rate (5 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as fearful as the world's.
Also named far more than usual: power cuts in Ghana (35 of its stories, about 6 times its usual); hepatitis in Libya (10 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); poisoning in China (72 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); hiv in Uganda (10 of its stories, about three times its usual); cholera in Bangladesh (16 of its stories, more than ten times its usual).
Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 2 Apr. 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 34,782 stories about harm among 191,013 counted on 2 Apr.
Help and hope: reports of vaccination ran at about one and a half times the usual rate. of the day's 191,013 news stories, 18 in every 100 were about people being harmed, below the usual 20. Ghana's news mentioned power cuts about 6 times as often as usual. Puerto Rico's news was 62% about people being harmed, against a usual 33%. On 2 April 2018, a year earlier, the share was 22 in every 100, against 18 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 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.