We measure how the world's news covered people being harmed — and the help and hope within it.
69 of its 99 stories (70%) were about people being harmed, usually 20%. Aalst accounted for 59 of Belgium's 69 stories about harm, carried by 82 outlets. Reports of people killed ran at about 4 times the usual rate (19 stories). Flu was named in 10 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual. Its coverage was about one and a half times as fearful as the world's.
18 of its 27 stories (67%) were about people being harmed, usually 41%. Tbilisi accounted for 18 of Georgia's 18 stories about harm, carried by 26 outlets. 17 of Tbilisi's 18 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of people injured ran at about twice the usual rate (8 stories). Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's. Grief in its coverage rose to about twice its own usual.
133 of its 189 stories (70%) were about people being harmed, usually 62%. Port-au-Prince accounted for 80 of Haiti's 133 stories about harm, carried by 241 outlets. Reports of refugees ran at about 5 times the usual rate (6 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as angry as the world's.
59 of its 101 stories (58%) were about people being harmed, usually 50%. Dhaka accounted for 41 of Bangladesh's 59 stories about harm, carried by 40 outlets. Reports of arrests ran at about three times the usual rate (19 stories). Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's.
223 of its 421 stories (53%) were about people being harmed, usually 30%. 37 of Kwazulu's 63 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of arrests ran at about 4 times the usual rate (82 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as angry as the world's.
28 of its 30 stories (93%) were about people being harmed, usually 48%. Srebrenica accounted for 27 of Bosnia's 28 stories about harm, carried by 100 outlets. Its coverage was about 5 times as grief-stricken as the world's.
19 of its 25 stories (76%) were about people being harmed, usually 41%. 9 of Caracas' 14 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of people injured ran at more than ten times the usual rate (14 stories).
43 of its 108 stories (40%) were about people being harmed, usually 28%. Reports of arrests ran at about twice the usual rate (10 stories). Anger in its coverage rose to about one and a half times its own usual.
200 of its 598 stories (33%) were about people being harmed, usually 25%. Reports of evacuations ran at about 9 times the usual rate (17 stories). Flooding was named in 13 of its stories about harm, about 6 times usual.
286 of its 824 stories (35%) were about people being harmed, usually 28%. Reports of evacuations ran at about three times the usual rate (20 stories). Wildfires were named in 68 of its stories about harm, about three times usual.
Also named far more than usual: wildfires in Canada (68 of its stories, about three times its usual); road crashes in Ireland (16 of its stories, about 7 times its usual); flooding in China (13 of its stories, about 6 times its usual); cholera in Nigeria (10 of its stories, about 4 times its usual); heavy rain in UK (17 of its stories, about 4 times its usual).
Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 11 Jul. 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 9,431 stories about harm among 38,243 counted on 11 Jul.
Belgium's news was 70% about people being harmed, against a usual 20%. of the day's 38,243 news stories, 25 in every 100 were about people being harmed, above the usual 23. Reports of evacuations ran at about twice the usual rate, most often about the US and Afghanistan. Mentions of wildfires ran about three times their usual in Canada's news. A year earlier, on 11 July 2020, 32 in every 100 stories were about people being harmed, against 25 today. This week the news turned most often to Georgia, on 4 of 7 days; help rose on 1 of them.
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 harsher 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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