We measure how the world's news covered people being harmed — and the help and hope within it.
120 of its 160 stories (75%) were about people being harmed, usually 21%. Norrkoping accounted for 70 of Sweden's 120 stories about harm, carried by 256 outlets. 63 of Norrkoping's 70 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of arrests ran at more than ten times the usual rate (80 stories). Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's.
263 of its 450 stories (58%) were about people being harmed, usually 34%. Durban accounted for 80 of South Africa's 263 stories about harm, carried by 88 outlets. Reports of people affected ran at about 5 times the usual rate (86 stories). Flooding was named in 136 of its stories about harm, about 4 times usual, with storms, power cuts and drownings.
993 of its 1,857 stories (53%) were about people being harmed, usually 44%. Reports of people injured ran at about three times the usual rate (415 stories). Hunger was named in 136 of its stories about harm, about 10 times usual. Its coverage was about three times as angry as the world's.
205 of its 670 stories (31%) were about people being harmed, usually 21%. Reports of arrests ran at about three times the usual rate (70 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as grief-stricken as the world's.
Jerusalem accounted for 193 of Israel's 246 stories about harm, carried by 270 outlets. 100 of Jerusalem's 193 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of arrests ran at about three times the usual rate (78 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as angry as the world's.
93 of its 171 stories (54%) were about people being harmed, usually 27%. Reports of people injured ran at about three times the usual rate (11 stories). Its coverage was about twice as fearful as the world's.
11 of its 22 stories (50%) were about people being harmed, usually 28%. Reports of people killed ran at about twice the usual rate (8 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as grief-stricken as the world's.
30 of its 52 stories (58%) were about people being harmed, usually 36%. Reports of people affected ran at about 4 times the usual rate (17 stories).
55 of its 108 stories (51%) were about people being harmed, usually 41%. Its coverage was about three times as fearful as the world's.
51 of its 174 stories (29%) were about people being harmed, usually 22%. Reports of arrests ran at about three times the usual rate (9 stories).
Also named far more than usual: respiratory illness in UK (29 of its stories, about 7 times its usual); hepatitis in India (10 of its stories, about 9 times its usual).
Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 18 Apr. 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 15,184 stories about harm among 63,468 counted on 18 Apr.
Sweden stood out: 75% of its news was about people being harmed, usually 21%. 24 in every 100 of the day's 63,468 news stories were about people being harmed, above the usual 22. On 18 April 2021, a year earlier, the share was 28 in every 100, against 24 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 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?
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.