We measure how the world's news covered people being harmed — and the help and hope within it.
282 of its 508 stories (56%) were about people being harmed, usually 47%. Reports of people injured ran at about 4 times the usual rate (21 stories). Respiratory illness was named in 35 of its stories about harm, about 8 times usual. Its coverage was about one and a half times as grief-stricken as the world's.
11 of its 16 stories (69%) were about people being harmed, usually 44%. Reports of arrests ran at about twice the usual rate (7 stories). Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's.
41 of Beirut's 53 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of people injured ran at about three times the usual rate (21 stories). Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's.
Tripoli accounted for 51 of Libya's 66 stories about harm, carried by 65 outlets. Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's.
82 of its 196 stories (42%) were about people being harmed, usually 32%. Reports of arrests ran at more than ten times the usual rate (6 stories). Its coverage was about twice as fearful as the world's.
Havana accounted for 36 of Cuba's 53 stories about harm, carried by 41 outlets. Reports of arrests ran at about three times the usual rate (8 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as angry as the world's.
151 of its 311 stories (49%) were about people being harmed, usually 41%. Its coverage was about one and a half times as fearful as the world's.
42 of its 59 stories (71%) were about people being harmed, usually 61%. 11 of Freetown's 15 stories were about protests or strikes.
Reports of people affected ran at about twice the usual rate (6 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as fearful as the world's.
Reports of people injured ran at about twice the usual rate (5 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as grief-stricken as the world's. Anger in its coverage rose to about one and a half times its own usual.
Also named far more than usual: hunger in North Korea (24 of its stories, about 8 times its usual); flooding in Somalia (10 of its stories, about 9 times its usual); dengue in Yemen (10 of its stories, about 4 times its usual); cyclone in Canada (106 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); hepatitis in Mexico (12 of its stories, more than ten times its usual).
Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 30 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 43,427 stories about harm among 122,412 counted on 30 Apr.
No day had a lower share of stories about people being harmed since 13 March 2020. Stories about people being harmed made up 35 in every 100 of the day's 122,412 stories, below the usual 40. On 1 May 2019, a year earlier, the share was 20 in every 100, against 35 today. In South Korea, 56% of the news was about people being harmed, where 47% 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 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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