We measure how the world's news covered people being harmed — and the help and hope within it.
94 of its 130 stories (72%) were about people being harmed, usually 54%. Darfur accounted for 52 of Sudan's 94 stories about harm, carried by 54 outlets. Reports of people displaced ran at about three times the usual rate (22 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as warm as the world's.
70 of its 100 stories (70%) were about people being harmed, usually 50%. Kigali accounted for 48 of Rwanda's 70 stories about harm, carried by 169 outlets. Reports of abductions ran at more than ten times the usual rate (13 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as fearful as the world's.
42 of its 108 stories (39%) were about people being harmed, usually 30%. Reports of people injured ran at about three times the usual rate (8 stories). Poisoning was named in 10 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual. Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's.
Minsk accounted for 108 of Belarus' 145 stories about harm, carried by 238 outlets. 98 of Minsk's 108 stories were about protests or strikes. Flooding was named in 14 of its stories about harm, about three times usual. Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's.
121 of its 322 stories (38%) were about people being harmed, usually 31%. Reports of arrests ran at about three times the usual rate (27 stories). Its coverage was about twice as fearful as the world's. Anger in its coverage rose to about one and a half times its own usual.
Damascus accounted for 53 of Syria's 93 stories about harm, carried by 65 outlets. Reports of people injured ran at about three times the usual rate (37 stories). Its coverage was about three times as angry as the world's.
26 of its 34 stories (76%) were about people being harmed, usually 46%. Hurricane was named in 21 of its stories about harm, about 4 times usual, with storms and cyclone.
57 of its 125 stories (46%) were about people being harmed, usually 33%. Earthquake was named in 32 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual, with tsunami.
94 of its 231 stories (41%) were about people being harmed, usually 30%. Reports of arrests ran at about 4 times the usual rate (25 stories).
15 of Monrovia's 18 stories were about protests or strikes. Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's.
Also named far more than usual: earthquake in Chile (32 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); hurricane in Honduras (21 of its stories, about 4 times its usual); flu in Sweden (10 of its stories, about 5 times its usual); typhoon in Japan (27 of its stories, about 6 times its usual); drought in Zimbabwe (13 of its stories, about three times its usual).
Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 1 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 28,373 stories about harm among 104,487 counted on 1 Sep.
The share of stories about people being harmed was the lowest since 9 March 2020. 27 in every 100 of the day's 104,487 news stories were about people being harmed, below the usual 29. In Chile's news, mentions of the earthquake ran more than ten times their usual. the news turned to Sudan for the second day running. On 2 September 2019, a year earlier, the share was 25 in every 100, against 27 today. Over August, 29 in every 100 stories were about people being harmed, against 22 in August 2019.
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 27 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?
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.