We measure how the world's news covered people being harmed — and the help and hope within it.
168 of its 274 stories (61%) were about people being harmed, usually 44%. Colombo accounted for 104 of Sri Lanka's 168 stories about harm, carried by 79 outlets. Reports of people injured ran at about 4 times the usual rate (42 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as fearful as the world's.
391 of its 812 stories (48%) were about people being harmed, usually 42%. Reports of refugees ran at more than ten times the usual rate (46 stories). Cholera was named in 30 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual.
31 of its 40 stories (78%) were about people being harmed, usually 50%. Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's.
18 of its 24 stories (75%) were about people being harmed, usually 42%. Malaria was named in 15 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual.
21 of its 21 stories (100%) were about people being harmed, usually 69%. Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's.
59 of its 118 stories (50%) were about people being harmed, usually 39%. Its coverage was about one and a half times as warm as the world's.
11 of its 13 stories (85%) were about people being harmed, usually 49%. Reports of people affected ran at about twice the usual rate (5 stories).
73 of its 164 stories (45%) were about people being harmed, usually 37%. Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's.
14 of its 18 stories (78%) were about people being harmed, usually 57%. Its coverage was about one and a half times as fearful as the world's.
Reports of abductions ran at more than ten times the usual rate (6 stories). Hurricane was named in 17 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual.
Also named far more than usual: malaria in Brazil (24 of its stories, about 5 times its usual); natural hazards in Malaysia (24 of its stories, about 5 times its usual); flooding in Kenya (20 of its stories, about 7 times its usual); flooding in Bangladesh (10 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); hurricane in Japan (17 of its stories, more than ten times its usual).
Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 21 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 43,804 stories about harm among 117,326 counted on 21 Apr.
No day had a lower share of stories about people being harmed since 16 March 2020. Madagascar's news mentioned the malaria more than ten times as often as usual. 37 in every 100 of the day's 117,326 news stories were about people being harmed, below the usual 41. On 22 April 2019, a year earlier, the share was 21 in every 100, against 37 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 harsher 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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