We measure how the world's news covered people being harmed — and the help and hope within it.
28 of its 52 stories (54%) were about people being harmed, usually 39%. 5 of Bogota's 8 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of people affected ran at about three times the usual rate (8 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as angry as the world's.
302 of its 536 stories (56%) were about people being harmed, usually 49%. Jerusalem accounted for 120 of Israel's 302 stories about harm, carried by 120 outlets. Reports of arrests ran at about three times the usual rate (83 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as fearful as the world's.
103 of its 393 stories (26%) were about people being harmed, usually 18%. Reports of people displaced ran at more than ten times the usual rate (10 stories). Wildfires were named in 26 of its stories about harm, about 6 times usual, with storms.
33 of its 83 stories (40%) were about people being harmed, usually 23%. Buenos Aires accounted for 27 of Argentina's 33 stories about harm, carried by 33 outlets.
Kabul accounted for 420 of Afghanistan's 627 stories about harm, carried by 518 outlets. Reports of people displaced ran at about three times the usual rate (39 stories). Drought was named in 71 of its stories about harm, about 5 times usual, with covid, hunger and measles. Its coverage was about one and a half times as fearful as the world's.
125 of its 236 stories (53%) were about people being harmed, usually 31%. Reports of arrests ran at about three times the usual rate (13 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as fearful as the world's.
7 of its 8 stories (88%) were about people being harmed, usually 27%. 3 of Guapinol's 3 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of people killed ran at about twice the usual rate (5 stories).
27 of its 54 stories (50%) were about people being harmed, usually 30%. Its coverage was about one and a half times as grief-stricken as the world's.
167 of its 344 stories (49%) were about people being harmed, usually 38%. Kuala Lumpur accounted for 93 of Malaysia's 167 stories about harm, carried by 114 outlets.
44 of its 82 stories (54%) were about people being harmed, usually 40%. Its coverage was about one and a half times as fearful as the world's.
Also named far more than usual: flooding in North Korea (19 of its stories, about 5 times its usual); flu in Denmark (10 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); road crashes in Italy (21 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); drought in Afghanistan (71 of its stories, about 5 times its usual); typhoon in China (41 of its stories, more than ten times its usual).
Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 13 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 21,461 stories about harm among 77,481 counted on 13 Sep.
In North Korea's news, mentions of flooding ran about 5 times their usual. Stories about people being harmed made up 28 in every 100 of the day's 77,481 stories, as usual. A year earlier, on 13 September 2020, 30 in every 100 stories were about people being harmed, against 28 today. In Colombia, 54% of the news was about people being harmed, where 39% is usual.
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.