We measure how the world's news covered people being harmed — and the help and hope within it.
398 of its 664 stories (60%) were about people being harmed, usually 27%. Mexico City accounted for 331 of Mexico's 398 stories about harm, carried by 753 outlets. Reports of people injured ran at more than ten times the usual rate (278 stories). Earthquake was named in 74 of its stories about harm, about 10 times usual, with train derailment. Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's.
159 of its 227 stories (70%) were about people being harmed, usually 60%. Kabul accounted for 66 of Afghanistan's 159 stories about harm, carried by 75 outlets. Reports of people displaced ran at about three times the usual rate (14 stories). Flooding was named in 16 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual, with heavy rain. Its coverage was about three times as angry as the world's.
73 of its 125 stories (58%) were about people being harmed, usually 38%. 22 of Bogota's 25 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of people injured ran at about 5 times the usual rate (29 stories). Its coverage was about three times as angry as the world's.
Reports of people affected ran at about twice the usual rate (11 stories). Outbreaks were named in 12 of its stories about harm, about three times usual. Its coverage was about one and a half times as fearful as the world's.
Reports of evacuations ran at about twice the usual rate (5 stories). Road crashes were named in 10 of its stories about harm, about three times usual. Fear in its coverage rose to about one and a half times its own usual.
Yangon accounted for 23 of Myanmar's 43 stories about harm, carried by 44 outlets. 14 of Yangon's 23 stories were about protests or strikes. Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's.
94 of its 243 stories (39%) were about people being harmed, usually 27%. Reports of people injured ran at about 4 times the usual rate (5 stories).
27 of its 33 stories (82%) were about people being harmed, usually 61%. Its coverage was about one and a half times as grief-stricken as the world's.
51 of its 118 stories (43%) were about people being harmed, usually 32%. Its coverage was about one and a half times as fearful as the world's.
76 of its 185 stories (41%) were about people being harmed, usually 33%. Reports of arrests ran at about twice the usual rate (12 stories).
Also named far more than usual: outbreaks in Sri Lanka (15 of its stories, about 4 times its usual); road crashes in Australia (17 of its stories, about three times its usual); storms in US (225 of its stories, about three times its usual); accidents in Canada (13 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); storms in UK (23 of its stories, about 6 times its usual).
Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 4 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 22,119 stories about harm among 91,203 counted on 4 May.
In Mexico's news, mentions of the earthquake ran about 10 times their usual. Stories about people being harmed made up 24 in every 100 of the day's 91,203 stories, below the usual 25. Mexico's news was 60% about people being harmed, against a usual 27%. On 4 May 2020, a year earlier, the share was 36 in every 100, against 24 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 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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