We measure how the world's news covered people being harmed — and the help and hope within it.
274 of its 341 stories (80%) were about people being harmed, usually 57%. Reports of evacuations ran at about 9 times the usual rate (65 stories). Storm surge was named in 51 of its stories about harm, about 8 times usual, with power cuts, drownings and typhoon. Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's. Anger in its coverage rose to about one and a half times its own usual.
Jerusalem accounted for 163 of Israel's 286 stories about harm, carried by 110 outlets. Reports of evacuations ran at more than ten times the usual rate (16 stories). Drought was named in 13 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual, with heatwave. Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's.
5 of Dapaong's 5 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of abductions ran at more than ten times the usual rate (5 stories). Anger in its coverage rose to about one and a half times its own usual.
20 of its 23 stories (87%) were about people being harmed, usually 51%. Reports of arrests ran at about 6 times the usual rate (14 stories).
38 of its 45 stories (84%) were about people being harmed, usually 63%. Reports of evacuations ran at more than ten times the usual rate (14 stories). Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's. Grief in its coverage rose to about one and a half times its own usual.
96 of its 192 stories (50%) were about people being harmed, usually 43%. Colombo accounted for 47 of Sri Lanka's 96 stories about harm, carried by 45 outlets. Reports of people injured ran at about 4 times the usual rate (18 stories).
Malaria was named in 23 of its stories about harm, about 4 times usual. Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's.
Reports of abductions ran at more than ten times the usual rate (9 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as fearful as the world's.
8 of Algiers' 11 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of arrests ran at about three times the usual rate (8 stories).
Sanaa accounted for 21 of Yemen's 40 stories about harm, carried by 31 outlets. Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's.
Also named far more than usual: malaria in Brazil (23 of its stories, about 4 times its usual); respiratory illness in Kashmir (12 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); plague in China (73 of its stories, about three times its usual); storm surge in India (61 of its stories, about 7 times its usual); landslides in US (36 of its stories, about three times its usual).
Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 21 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 37,656 stories about harm among 117,880 counted on 21 May.
No day had a lower share of stories about people being harmed since 12 March 2020. Stories about people being harmed made up 32 in every 100 of the day's 117,880 stories, below the usual 35. It was the third day running that the news turned to Bangladesh. Evacuations were reported at about twice the usual rate, most often about India and the US. Bangladesh's news mentioned storm surge about 8 times as often as usual.
Written by code from the day's numbers.
Countries with at least 50 stories that day.
Stories, not people.
Each country shaded by how much of its news was about people being harmed, against the world's 32 in 100 that day. Stronger colour: further above. A country with few stories is drawn closer to the world's. Click a country.
Stories, not people. Countries with at least 50 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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