We measure how the world's news covered people being harmed — and the help and hope within it.
54 of its 121 stories (45%) were about people being harmed, usually 34%. Jakarta accounted for 30 of Indonesia's 54 stories about harm, carried by 167 outlets. Reports of people killed ran at about three times the usual rate (23 stories). Plague was named in 12 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual.
33 of its 77 stories (43%) were about people being harmed, usually 31%. Yerevan accounted for 29 of Armenia's 33 stories about harm, carried by 49 outlets. 23 of Yerevan's 29 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of arrests ran at more than ten times the usual rate (17 stories).
Kyiv accounted for 254 of Ukraine's 786 stories about harm, carried by 500 outlets. Reports of evacuations ran at about three times the usual rate (213 stories). Tuberculosis was named in 10 of its stories about harm, about 4 times usual, with power cuts. Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's.
16 of its 38 stories (42%) were about people being harmed, usually 22%. Reports of arrests ran at about 5 times the usual rate (15 stories). Its coverage was about twice as fearful as the world's.
464 of its 1,184 stories (39%) were about people being harmed, usually 33%. Reports of abductions ran at about 8 times the usual rate (6 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as fearful as the world's.
Reports of people affected ran at about three times the usual rate (84 stories). Building collapse was named in 54 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.
168 of its 528 stories (32%) were about people being harmed, usually 25%. Its coverage was about one and a half times as angry as the world's.
Reports of people injured ran at about 6 times the usual rate (12 stories). Illness was named in 29 of its stories about harm, about three times usual.
8 of Santiago's 12 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of arrests ran at more than ten times the usual rate (9 stories).
9 of Barcelona's 18 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of people injured ran at about 5 times the usual rate (6 stories).
Also named far more than usual: illness in France (29 of its stories, about three times its usual); building collapse in Nigeria (54 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); road crashes in Ireland (21 of its stories, about 7 times its usual); drought in Iraq (10 of its stories, about 5 times its usual); heatwave in India (74 of its stories, about 5 times its usual).
Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 2 May. 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 15,005 stories about harm among 68,146 counted on 2 May.
In Nigeria's news, mentions of building collapse ran more than ten times their usual. Stories about people being harmed made up 22 in every 100 of the day's 68,146 stories, as usual. On 2 May 2021, a year earlier, the share was 25 in every 100, against 22 today. In Indonesia, 45% of the news was about people being harmed, where 34% 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 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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