We measure how the world's news covered people being harmed — and the help and hope within it.
Colombo accounted for 81 of Sri Lanka's 123 stories about harm, carried by 95 outlets. 51 of Colombo's 81 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of arrests ran at about 4 times the usual rate (25 stories). Power cuts were named in 20 of its stories about harm, about 6 times usual.
174 of its 189 stories (92%) were about people being harmed, usually 37%. Pyongyang accounted for 138 of North Korea's 174 stories about harm, carried by 335 outlets. Reports of people affected ran at more than ten times the usual rate (45 stories).
26 of its 35 stories (74%) were about people being harmed, usually 58%. Reports of people injured ran at about twice the usual rate (11 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as angry as the world's.
67 of its 184 stories (36%) were about people being harmed, usually 17%.
70 of its 147 stories (48%) were about people being harmed, usually 32%. Reports of people injured ran at more than ten times the usual rate (27 stories). Anger in its coverage rose to about one and a half times its own usual.
83 of its 281 stories (30%) were about people being harmed, usually 20%. Reports of people falling ill ran at more than ten times the usual rate (9 stories). Outbreaks were named in 31 of its stories about harm, about three times usual.
Jerusalem accounted for 146 of Israel's 250 stories about harm, carried by 354 outlets. Reports of people falling ill ran at more than ten times the usual rate (7 stories). Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's.
295 of its 714 stories (41%) were about people being harmed, usually 32%. Its coverage was about one and a half times as fearful as the world's.
90 of its 230 stories (39%) were about people being harmed, usually 29%. Reports of people affected ran at about twice the usual rate (17 stories).
38 of its 150 stories (25%) were about people being harmed, usually 18%. Anger in its coverage rose to about one and a half times its own usual.
Also named far more than usual: outbreaks in South Korea (31 of its stories, about three times its usual); dust storm in Iraq (19 of its stories, about 9 times its usual); heavy rain in India (67 of its stories, about three times its usual); heavy rain in UK (38 of its stories, more than ten times its usual).
Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 16 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 17,400 stories about harm among 78,563 counted on 16 May.
People falling ill were reported at about 5 times the usual rate, most often about the US and North Korea. of the day's 78,563 news stories, 22 in every 100 were about people being harmed, as usual. South Korea's news mentioned outbreaks about three times as often as usual. A year earlier, on 16 May 2021, 28 in every 100 stories were about people being harmed, against 22 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 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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