We measure how the world's news covered people being harmed — and the help and hope within it.
38 of its 85 stories (45%) were about people being harmed, usually 17%. Burgas accounted for 32 of Bulgaria's 38 stories about harm, carried by 46 outlets. Reports of people injured ran at about 6 times the usual rate (33 stories). Its coverage was about twice as fearful as the world's.
46 of its 94 stories (49%) were about people being harmed, usually 27%. Reports of people killed ran at about three times the usual rate (33 stories). Poisoning was named in 10 of its stories about harm, about three times usual. Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's.
35 of its 92 stories (38%) were about people being harmed, usually 21%. 8 of Manama's 12 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of arrests ran at about three times the usual rate (7 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as fearful as the world's.
22 of its 40 stories (55%) were about people being harmed, usually 39%. Reports of arrests ran at about 4 times the usual rate (9 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as angry as the world's.
28 of its 49 stories (57%) were about people being harmed, usually 28%. Honiara accounted for 24 of the Solomon Islands' 28 stories about harm, carried by 39 outlets. Reports of people killed ran at about 4 times the usual rate (19 stories). Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's.
Reports of abductions ran at about three times the usual rate (14 stories). Polio was named in 19 of its stories about harm, about 4 times usual. Its coverage was about one and a half times as angry as the world's.
Minsk accounted for 73 of Belarus' 101 stories about harm, carried by 126 outlets. 57 of Minsk's 73 stories were about protests or strikes. Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's.
Kabul accounted for 48 of Afghanistan's 103 stories about harm, carried by 38 outlets. Reports of refugees ran at about three times the usual rate (10 stories). Its coverage was about three times as angry as the world's.
30 of its 77 stories (39%) were about people being harmed, usually 26%. Anger in its coverage rose to about one and a half times its own usual.
147 of its 525 stories (28%) were about people being harmed, usually 22%. Reports of people affected ran at about three times the usual rate (36 stories).
Also named far more than usual: building collapse in India (116 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); polio in Pakistan (19 of its stories, about 4 times its usual); earthquake in Philippines (19 of its stories, about 4 times its usual); hurricane in Canada (40 of its stories, about 6 times its usual); food poisoning in Ireland (14 of its stories, more than ten times its usual).
Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 21 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 24,472 stories about harm among 93,305 counted on 21 Sep.
No day had a lower share of stories about people being harmed since 6 March 2020. Stories about people being harmed made up 26 in every 100 of the day's 93,305 stories, below the usual 28. Bulgaria's news was 45% about people being harmed, against a usual 17%. In Botswana's news, mentions of poisoning ran about three times their usual. On 22 September 2019, a year earlier, the share was 20 in every 100, against 26 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 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?
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.