We measure how the world's news covered people being harmed — and the help and hope within it.
113 of its 141 stories (80%) were about people being harmed, usually 44%. Kigali accounted for 70 of Rwanda's 113 stories about harm, carried by 88 outlets. Reports of people killed ran at about 4 times the usual rate (69 stories). Its coverage was about three times as fearful as the world's.
258 of its 571 stories (45%) were about people being harmed, usually 20%. Reports of evacuations ran at more than ten times the usual rate (113 stories). Volcanic eruption was named in 166 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual, with earthquake and landslides.
56 of its 134 stories (42%) were about people being harmed, usually 25%. 10 of Kyiv's 15 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of people injured ran at about twice the usual rate (7 stories).
25 of its 65 stories (38%) were about people being harmed, usually 26%. Reports of people killed ran at about three times the usual rate (8 stories). Grief in its coverage rose to about one and a half times its own usual.
420 of its 890 stories (47%) were about people being harmed, usually 27%. Moscow accounted for 259 of Russia's 420 stories about harm, carried by 559 outlets. Reports of people injured ran at more than ten times the usual rate (145 stories). Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's.
30 of its 51 stories (59%) were about people being harmed, usually 47%. Tunis accounted for 24 of Tunisia's 30 stories about harm, carried by 9 outlets. Anger in its coverage rose to about one and a half times its own usual.
Reports of evacuations ran at about twice the usual rate (8 stories). Polio was named in 14 of its stories about harm, about 6 times usual. Its coverage was about one and a half times as angry as the world's.
Port-au-Prince accounted for 41 of Haiti's 77 stories about harm, carried by 94 outlets. Reports of refugees ran at about 10 times the usual rate (10 stories). Covid was named in 40 of its stories about harm, about 4 times usual.
21 of its 25 stories (84%) were about people being harmed, usually 47%. Vientiane accounted for 17 of Laos' 21 stories about harm, carried by 30 outlets.
53 of its 141 stories (38%) were about people being harmed, usually 21%. Reports of people killed ran at about 5 times the usual rate (34 stories).
Also named far more than usual: covid in Haiti (40 of its stories, about 4 times its usual); outbreaks in Saudi Arabia (11 of its stories, about 6 times its usual); polio in Pakistan (14 of its stories, about 6 times its usual); drownings in India (18 of its stories, about 4 times its usual); wildfires in UK (27 of its stories, about 4 times its usual).
Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 20 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 20,921 stories about harm among 75,670 counted on 20 Sep.
Stories about people being harmed made up 28 in every 100 of the day's 75,670 stories, below the usual 29. A year earlier, on 20 September 2020, 28 in every 100 stories were about people being harmed, the same as 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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