We measure how the world's news covered people being harmed — and the help and hope within it.
163 of its 256 stories (64%) were about people being harmed, usually 38%. Colombo accounted for 122 of Sri Lanka's 163 stories about harm, carried by 273 outlets. Reports of evacuations ran at about three times the usual rate (7 stories). Oil spill was named in 49 of its stories about harm, about 5 times usual.
Reports of evacuations ran at about twice the usual rate (5 stories). Flu was named in 91 of its stories about harm, about 4 times usual, with bird flu. Its coverage was about one and a half times as fearful as the world's.
Minsk accounted for 65 of Belarus' 89 stories about harm, carried by 65 outlets. 35 of Minsk's 65 stories were about protests or strikes. Its coverage was about one and a half times as angry as the world's. Grief in its coverage rose to about one and a half times its own usual.
Gaza accounted for 38 of Palestine's 54 stories about harm, carried by 29 outlets. Reports of refugees ran at about twice the usual rate (8 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as angry as the world's.
197 of its 370 stories (53%) were about people being harmed, usually 33%. Reports of people injured ran at about 8 times the usual rate (69 stories).
16 of its 37 stories (43%) were about people being harmed, usually 24%. Reports of people killed ran at about three times the usual rate (11 stories).
Tuberculosis was named in 25 of its stories about harm, about 10 times usual, with hunger. Its coverage was about one and a half times as grief-stricken as the world's.
Reports of evacuations ran at about 8 times the usual rate (21 stories). Tropical storm was named in 47 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual, with flooding, landslides and storms.
6 of Bogota's 9 stories were about protests or strikes. Its coverage was about one and a half times as angry as the world's.
Reports of people affected ran at about twice the usual rate (11 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as grief-stricken as the world's.
Also named far more than usual: tropical storm in Philippines (47 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); illness in Israel (49 of its stories, about 5 times its usual); hurricane in Jamaica (11 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); tuberculosis in Canada (25 of its stories, about 10 times its usual); heatwave in UK (17 of its stories, about 6 times its usual).
Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 2 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 20,898 stories about harm among 91,526 counted on 2 Jun.
It was the lowest share of stories about people being harmed since 26 February 2020. of the day's 91,526 news stories, 23 in every 100 were about people being harmed, below the usual 25. the news turned to Sri Lanka for the second day running. Mentions of oil spill ran about 5 times their usual in Sri Lanka's news. On 2 June 2020, a year earlier, the share was 36 in every 100, against 23 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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