We measure how the world's news covered people being harmed — and the help and hope within it.
83 of its 184 stories (45%) were about people being harmed, usually 37%. Dhaka accounted for 38 of Bangladesh's 83 stories about harm, carried by 27 outlets. Reports of people displaced ran at about 5 times the usual rate (5 stories). Flooding was named in 10 of its stories about harm, about three times usual.
34 of its 128 stories (27%) were about people being harmed, usually 16%. Reports of arrests ran at more than ten times the usual rate (8 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as angry as the world's.
24 of its 81 stories (30%) were about people being harmed, usually 18%. Reports of people killed ran at about twice the usual rate (12 stories). Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's.
115 of its 217 stories (53%) were about people being harmed, usually 46%. Colombo accounted for 67 of Sri Lanka's 115 stories about harm, carried by 157 outlets. 43 of Colombo's 67 stories were about protests or strikes.
162 of its 631 stories (26%) were about people being harmed, usually 18%. Reports of people injured ran at about 6 times the usual rate (19 stories). Tornadoes were named in 20 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual, with flooding.
50 of its 76 stories (66%) were about people being harmed, usually 57%. Damascus accounted for 24 of Syria's 50 stories about harm, carried by 33 outlets. Its coverage was about one and a half times as angry as the world's.
Reports of abductions ran at about 8 times the usual rate (19 stories). Hunger was named in 35 of its stories about harm, about three times usual, with wildfires. Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's.
61 of its 78 stories (78%) were about people being harmed, usually 50%. Pyongyang accounted for 36 of North Korea's 61 stories about harm, carried by 53 outlets.
42 of its 69 stories (61%) were about people being harmed, usually 43%. Its coverage was about one and a half times as angry as the world's.
26 of its 75 stories (35%) were about people being harmed, usually 21%. Reports of people killed ran at about twice the usual rate (6 stories).
Also named far more than usual: covid in Poland (12 of its stories, about 4 times its usual); tornadoes in Germany (20 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); dengue in Philippines (18 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); tornadoes in New Zealand (15 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); respiratory illness in China (41 of its stories, more than ten times its usual).
Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 20 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 18,010 stories about harm among 83,007 counted on 20 May.
In Poland's news, mentions of Covid ran about 4 times their usual. Stories about people being harmed made up 22 in every 100 of the day's 83,007 stories, as usual. On 20 May 2021, a year earlier, the share was 24 in every 100, against 22 today. In Bangladesh, 45% of the news was about people being harmed, where 37% 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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