We measure how the world's news covered people being harmed — and the help and hope within it.
190 of its 320 stories (59%) were about people being harmed, usually 50%. Tehran accounted for 133 of Iran's 190 stories about harm, carried by 129 outlets. Reports of people injured ran at more than ten times the usual rate (61 stories). Earthquake was named in 74 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual, with volcanic eruption. Its coverage was about one and a half times as fearful as the world's.
46 of its 55 stories (84%) were about people being harmed, usually 63%. 7 of Freetown's 13 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of people injured ran at about 6 times the usual rate (5 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as fearful as the world's.
138 of its 191 stories (72%) were about people being harmed, usually 58%. Caracas accounted for 62 of Venezuela's 138 stories about harm, carried by 77 outlets. Reports of abductions ran at more than ten times the usual rate (7 stories).
29 of its 37 stories (78%) were about people being harmed, usually 42%. Reports of evacuations ran at about three times the usual rate (14 stories).
101 of its 131 stories (77%) were about people being harmed, usually 56%. Ramallah accounted for 78 of Palestine's 101 stories about harm, carried by 38 outlets. Reports of people killed ran at about three times the usual rate (57 stories). Its coverage was about 5 times as grief-stricken as the world's.
Tripoli accounted for 49 of Libya's 57 stories about harm, carried by 85 outlets. Reports of people injured ran at about twice the usual rate (19 stories). Its coverage was about three times as angry as the world's.
27 of its 69 stories (39%) were about people being harmed, usually 23%. Reports of people affected ran at about three times the usual rate (5 stories).
32 of its 65 stories (49%) were about people being harmed, usually 34%. Pyongyang accounted for 27 of North Korea's 32 stories about harm, carried by 38 outlets.
35 of its 70 stories (50%) were about people being harmed, usually 36%. Its coverage was about one and a half times as fearful as the world's.
8 of its 10 stories (80%) were about people being harmed, usually 40%. Its coverage was about one and a half times as fearful as the world's.
Also named far more than usual: flooding in Somalia (14 of its stories, about 5 times its usual); heavy rain in Rwanda (11 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); flooding in Uganda (11 of its stories, about 6 times its usual); volcanic eruption in Philippines (10 of its stories, about three times its usual); drought in South Africa (10 of its stories, about 4 times its usual).
Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 8 May. 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 36,546 stories about harm among 110,105 counted on 8 May.
It was the lowest share of stories about people being harmed since 13 March 2020. of the day's 110,105 news stories, 33 in every 100 were about people being harmed, below the usual 38. Iran's news mentioned the earthquake more than ten times as often as usual. Reports of evacuations ran at about twice the usual rate, most often about India and the US.
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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