We measure how the world's news covered people being harmed — and the help and hope within it.
231 of its 432 stories (53%) were about people being harmed, usually 40%. Colombo accounted for 188 of Sri Lanka's 231 stories about harm, carried by 256 outlets. 176 of Colombo's 188 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of people injured ran at about 6 times the usual rate (162 stories). Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's.
83 of its 126 stories (66%) were about people being harmed, usually 46%. Saratoga accounted for 40 of Cuba's 83 stories about harm, carried by 184 outlets. Reports of people affected ran at about three times the usual rate (39 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as grief-stricken as the world's.
21 of its 24 stories (88%) were about people being harmed, usually 38%. Reports of refugees ran at about 10 times the usual rate (5 stories). Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's.
30 of its 38 stories (79%) were about people being harmed, usually 55%. Port-au-Prince accounted for 20 of Haiti's 30 stories about harm, carried by 35 outlets. Reports of abductions ran at about twice the usual rate (16 stories).
23 of its 40 stories (58%) were about people being harmed, usually 27%. 6 of Bellavista's 6 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of people injured ran at about 5 times the usual rate (7 stories). Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's.
69 of its 102 stories (68%) were about people being harmed, usually 30%. Reports of people falling ill ran at about 8 times the usual rate (5 stories). Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's.
26 of its 71 stories (37%) were about people being harmed, usually 19%. Reports of people injured ran at more than ten times the usual rate (13 stories). Train derailment was named in 11 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual.
72 of its 163 stories (44%) were about people being harmed, usually 32%. Taipei accounted for 57 of Taiwan's 72 stories about harm, carried by 75 outlets. Earthquake was named in 29 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual, with tsunami.
84 of its 220 stories (38%) were about people being harmed, usually 27%. Reports of people injured ran at about 4 times the usual rate (26 stories). Its coverage was about twice as fearful as the world's. Anger in its coverage rose to about twice its own usual.
55 of its 85 stories (65%) were about people being harmed, usually 52%. Reports of refugees ran at about three times the usual rate (21 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as fearful as the world's.
Also named far more than usual: earthquake in Taiwan (29 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); train derailment in Austria (11 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); cyclone in Bangladesh (15 of its stories, about 8 times its usual); power cuts in Philippines (41 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); cyclone in India (72 of its stories, more than ten times its usual).
Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 9 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 16,288 stories about harm among 75,542 counted on 9 May.
Taiwan's news mentioned the earthquake more than ten times as often as usual. 22 in every 100 of the day's 75,542 news stories were about people being harmed, as usual. Reports of people falling ill ran at about three times the usual rate, most often about the US and the Bahamas. On 9 May 2021, a year earlier, the share was 27 in every 100, against 22 today. Sri Lanka's news was 53% about people being harmed, against a usual 40%.
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 about as 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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