We measure how the world's news covered people being harmed — and the help and hope within it.
58 of its 176 stories (33%) were about people being harmed, usually 15%. Taipei accounted for 53 of Taiwan's 58 stories about harm, carried by 69 outlets. Reports of arrests ran at about three times the usual rate (10 stories). Typhoon was named in 44 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual, with landslides.
124 of its 150 stories (83%) were about people being harmed, usually 51%. Mogadishu accounted for 70 of Somalia's 124 stories about harm, carried by 113 outlets. Its coverage was about three times as angry as the world's.
124 of its 343 stories (36%) were about people being harmed, usually 22%. 30 of Lesbos' 57 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of people injured ran at about 5 times the usual rate (20 stories).
14 of its 36 stories (39%) were about people being harmed, usually 24%. Dakar accounted for 14 of Senegal's 14 stories about harm, carried by 44 outlets. Reports of arrests ran at more than ten times the usual rate (10 stories).
32 of its 65 stories (49%) were about people being harmed, usually 35%. 9 of Port-au-Prince's 10 stories were about protests or strikes. Fear in its coverage rose to about one and a half times its own usual.
Sanaa accounted for 40 of Yemen's 64 stories about harm, carried by 95 outlets. Reports of arrests ran at about three times the usual rate (28 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as angry as the world's. Warmth in its coverage rose to about one and a half times its own usual.
193 of Beijing's 242 stories were about protests or strikes. Hunger was named in 23 of its stories about harm, about 7 times usual. Grief in its coverage rose to about one and a half times its own usual.
Kabul accounted for 59 of Afghanistan's 110 stories about harm, carried by 73 outlets. Reports of abductions ran at about 9 times the usual rate (11 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as grief-stricken as the world's.
50 of its 119 stories (42%) were about people being harmed, usually 12%. Flooding was named in 16 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual.
13 of its 36 stories (36%) were about people being harmed, usually 16%. Reports of people killed ran at about twice the usual rate (5 stories).
Also named far more than usual: earthquake in Chile (22 of its stories, about 5 times its usual); flooding in Portugal (16 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); flooding in Ireland (33 of its stories, about 5 times its usual); cholera in Zimbabwe (16 of its stories, about 7 times its usual); train derailment in Mexico (16 of its stories, more than ten times its usual).
Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 30 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 19,550 stories about harm among 112,501 counted on 30 Sep.
In Taiwan's news, mentions of the typhoon ran more than ten times their usual. the news turned to Taiwan for the second day running. 17 in every 100 of the day's 112,501 news stories were about people being harmed, below the usual 21. In Taiwan, 33% of the news was about people being harmed, where 15% is usual.
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 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?
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.