We measure how the world's news covered people being harmed — and the help and hope within it.
149 of its 284 stories (52%) were about people being harmed, usually 34%. Mexico City accounted for 71 of Mexico's 149 stories about harm, carried by 227 outlets. Reports of people injured ran at more than ten times the usual rate (43 stories). Train derailment was named in 31 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual. Its coverage was about one and a half times as grief-stricken as the world's.
36 of its 99 stories (36%) were about people being harmed, usually 14%. Taipei accounted for 29 of Taiwan's 36 stories about harm, carried by 16 outlets. 18 of Taipei's 29 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of arrests ran at about 5 times the usual rate (10 stories). Heavy rain was named in 15 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual, with typhoon.
46 of its 70 stories (66%) were about people being harmed, usually 44%. Ramallah accounted for 28 of Palestine's 46 stories about harm, carried by 18 outlets. Reports of arrests ran at about three times the usual rate (18 stories). Fear in its coverage rose to about one and a half times its own usual.
94 of its 173 stories (54%) were about people being harmed, usually 43%. Reports of evacuations ran at more than ten times the usual rate (17 stories). Landslides were named in 15 of its stories about harm, about 7 times usual. Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's.
65 of its 169 stories (38%) were about people being harmed, usually 22%. 19 of Lesbos' 32 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of people injured ran at about 6 times the usual rate (13 stories).
213 of its 510 stories (42%) were about people being harmed, usually 33%. Reports of people injured ran at more than ten times the usual rate (106 stories). Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's. Grief in its coverage rose to about twice its own usual.
77 of its 192 stories (40%) were about people being harmed, usually 31%. 38 of Cairo's 45 stories were about protests or strikes. Its coverage was about one and a half times as angry as the world's.
72 of its 155 stories (46%) were about people being harmed, usually 37%. Reports of abductions ran at about 5 times the usual rate (6 stories). Its coverage was about twice as fearful as the world's. Grief in its coverage rose to about twice its own usual.
Causeway Bay accounted for 51 of Hong Kong's 80 stories about harm, carried by 216 outlets. 51 of Causeway Bay's 51 stories were about protests or strikes. Its coverage was about one and a half times as angry as the world's.
Kabul accounted for 99 of Afghanistan's 162 stories about harm, carried by 214 outlets. Reports of abductions ran at more than ten times the usual rate (14 stories). Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's.
Also named far more than usual: flooding in UK (93 of its stories, about 4 times its usual); hiv in South Africa (19 of its stories, about 4 times its usual); flooding in Bangladesh (11 of its stories, about 5 times its usual); tropical storm in Philippines (14 of its stories, about 4 times its usual); storms in Ireland (10 of its stories, about 7 times its usual).
Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 29 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 11,396 stories about harm among 58,487 counted on 29 Sep.
Mentions of heavy rain ran more than ten times their usual in Taiwan's news. A year earlier, on 29 September 2018, 22 in every 100 stories were about people being harmed, against 19 today. Mexico stood out: 52% of its news was about people being harmed, usually 34%. 19 in every 100 of the day's 58,487 news stories were about people being harmed, below the usual 21. This week the news turned most often to Indonesia, on 4 of 7 days; help rose on 1 of them.
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?
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