We measure how the world's news covered people being harmed — and the help and hope within it.
13 of its 15 stories (87%) were about people being harmed, usually 25%. 4 of Skalabotnur's 4 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of people killed ran at about three times the usual rate (13 stories). Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's.
Kabul accounted for 464 of Afghanistan's 717 stories about harm, carried by 672 outlets. Reports of people displaced ran at about twice the usual rate (37 stories). Drought was named in 63 of its stories about harm, about three times usual, with hunger and measles. Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's.
63 of its 69 stories (91%) were about people being harmed, usually 10%. Reports of people killed ran at more than ten times the usual rate (60 stories). Road crashes were named in 60 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual.
Jerusalem accounted for 118 of Israel's 285 stories about harm, carried by 97 outlets. Reports of abductions ran at about 5 times the usual rate (5 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as angry as the world's.
79 of its 109 stories (72%) were about people being harmed, usually 56%. 18 of Damascus' 28 stories were about protests or strikes. Its coverage was about one and a half times as fearful as the world's.
22 of its 31 stories (71%) were about people being harmed, usually 50%. Reports of people injured ran at about 5 times the usual rate (6 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as grief-stricken as the world's.
33 of its 60 stories (55%) were about people being harmed, usually 41%. Reports of people injured ran at about 4 times the usual rate (14 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as angry as the world's.
Port-au-Prince accounted for 25 of Haiti's 46 stories about harm, carried by 68 outlets. Reports of arrests ran at about 4 times the usual rate (29 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as fearful as the world's.
30 of its 43 stories (70%) were about people being harmed, usually 52%. Reports of people injured ran at about twice the usual rate (8 stories).
13 of its 20 stories (65%) were about people being harmed, usually 36%. Ebola was named in 12 of its stories about harm, about 9 times usual, with outbreaks.
Also named far more than usual: covid in Myanmar (14 of its stories, about three times its usual); ebola in Sierra Leone (12 of its stories, about 9 times its usual); wildfires in Spain (14 of its stories, about three times its usual); flu in UK (167 of its stories, about 4 times its usual); typhoon in China (26 of its stories, about 5 times its usual).
Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 14 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 24,788 stories about harm among 88,359 counted on 14 Sep.
Faroe Islands stood out: 87% of its news was about people being harmed, usually 25%. 28 in every 100 of the day's 88,359 news stories were about people being harmed, as usual. In Monaco's news, mentions of road crashes ran more than ten times their usual. A year earlier, on 14 September 2020, 27 in every 100 stories were about people being harmed, against 28 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 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?
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