We measure how the world's news covered people being harmed — and the help and hope within it.
214 of its 503 stories (43%) were about people being harmed, usually 23%. Nairobi accounted for 155 of Kenya's 214 stories about harm, carried by 360 outlets. Reports of people injured ran at more than ten times the usual rate (62 stories). Building collapse was named in 42 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual. Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's.
273 of its 504 stories (54%) were about people being harmed, usually 40%. 68 of Wamena's 68 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of people injured ran at about 4 times the usual rate (38 stories). Plane crash was named in 11 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual. Grief in its coverage rose to about one and a half times its own usual.
Harare accounted for 89 of Zimbabwe's 137 stories about harm, carried by 95 outlets. Reports of people injured ran at about three times the usual rate (9 stories). Cholera was named in 12 of its stories about harm, about 7 times usual, with outbreaks. Its coverage was about one and a half times as grief-stricken as the world's.
35 of its 100 stories (35%) were about people being harmed, usually 24%. Reports of people killed ran at about twice the usual rate (7 stories). HIV was named in 10 of its stories about harm, about 5 times usual.
103 of its 277 stories (37%) were about people being harmed, usually 28%. Cairo accounted for 70 of Egypt's 103 stories about harm, carried by 103 outlets. 62 of Cairo's 70 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of arrests ran at about 4 times the usual rate (61 stories). Natural hazards were named in 10 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual.
401 of its 924 stories (43%) were about people being harmed, usually 36%. Reports of refugees ran at about 8 times the usual rate (11 stories). Its coverage was about twice as fearful as the world's.
Musa Qala accounted for 73 of Afghanistan's 189 stories about harm, carried by 191 outlets. Reports of arrests ran at more than ten times the usual rate (50 stories). Its coverage was about 4 times as grief-stricken as the world's.
34 of its 62 stories (55%) were about people being harmed, usually 18%. Flooding was named in 20 of its stories about harm, about 5 times usual, with tropical storm.
100 of its 116 stories (86%) were about people being harmed, usually 72%. Tornadoes were named in 10 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual.
17 of its 96 stories (18%) were about people being harmed, usually 6%. Reports of abductions ran at more than ten times the usual rate (7 stories).
Also named far more than usual: storms in South Korea (36 of its stories, about 4 times its usual); flooding in Trinidad & Tobago (20 of its stories, about 5 times its usual); drownings in Tanzania (12 of its stories, about 4 times its usual); hiv in South Africa (42 of its stories, about 6 times its usual); storms in France (25 of its stories, about 8 times its usual).
Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 23 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 20,292 stories about harm among 115,149 counted on 23 Sep.
It was the lowest share of stories about people being harmed since 10 January 2019. of the day's 115,149 news stories, 18 in every 100 were about people being harmed, below the usual 22. South Korea's news mentioned storms about 4 times as often as usual. A year earlier, on 23 September 2018, 22 in every 100 stories were about people being harmed, 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 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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