We measure how the world's news covered people being harmed — and the help and hope within it.
684 of its 2,170 stories (32%) were about people being harmed, usually 26%. Reports of abductions ran at about 5 times the usual rate (8 stories). Flu was named in 134 of its stories about harm, about 7 times usual, with bird flu and west nile virus. Its coverage was about one and a half times as fearful as the world's.
Minsk accounted for 75 of Belarus' 97 stories about harm, carried by 82 outlets. 43 of Minsk's 75 stories were about protests or strikes. Illness was named in 13 of its stories about harm, about 4 times usual. Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's.
90 of its 186 stories (48%) were about people being harmed, usually 37%. Colombo accounted for 66 of Sri Lanka's 90 stories about harm, carried by 69 outlets. Heavy rain was named in 15 of its stories about harm, about 6 times usual, with drought.
62 of its 141 stories (44%) were about people being harmed, usually 36%. Kampala accounted for 45 of Uganda's 62 stories about harm, carried by 37 outlets. 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.
61 of its 109 stories (56%) were about people being harmed, usually 29%. Reports of people killed ran at about 4 times the usual rate (47 stories). Its coverage was about 4 times as grief-stricken as the world's.
163 of its 581 stories (28%) were about people being harmed, usually 23%. Reports of evacuations ran at about 4 times the usual rate (11 stories). Flooding was named in 55 of its stories about harm, about 6 times usual.
7 of Yangon's 10 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of people displaced ran at about twice the usual rate (7 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as angry as the world's.
Reports of abductions ran at about twice the usual rate (7 stories). Heatwave was named in 11 of its stories about harm, about 4 times usual, with volcanic eruption. Its coverage was about one and a half times as fearful as the world's.
16 of its 22 stories (73%) were about people being harmed, usually 42%. Its coverage was about one and a half times as fearful as the world's.
15 of its 24 stories (62%) were about people being harmed, usually 35%. Reports of arrests ran at about twice the usual rate (8 stories).
Also named far more than usual: flooding in New Zealand (55 of its stories, about 6 times its usual); flu in Greece (16 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); tropical storm in Philippines (31 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); tuberculosis in Canada (17 of its stories, about 7 times its usual); heatwave in UK (11 of its stories, about 4 times its usual).
Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 1 Jun. 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 20,009 stories about harm among 85,133 counted on 1 Jun.
The share of stories about people being harmed was the lowest since 5 November 2020. 24 in every 100 of the day's 85,133 news stories were about people being harmed, below the usual 25. A year earlier, on 1 June 2020, 35 in every 100 stories were about people being harmed, against 24 today. China stood out: 32% of its news was about people being harmed, usually 26%. Over May, 25 in every 100 stories were about people being harmed, against 34 in May 2020.
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 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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