We measure how the world's news covered people being harmed — and the help and hope within it.
222 of its 448 stories (50%) were about people being harmed, usually 30%. East London accounted for 120 of South Africa's 222 stories about harm, carried by 224 outlets. Reports of people killed ran at about 5 times the usual rate (160 stories). Poisoning was named in 13 of its stories about harm, about 6 times usual. Its coverage was about three times as grief-stricken as the world's.
73 of its 101 stories (72%) were about people being harmed, usually 26%. Oslo accounted for 70 of Norway's 73 stories about harm, carried by 260 outlets. Reports of people injured ran at about 5 times the usual rate (64 stories). Its coverage was about twice as fearful as the world's. Anger in its coverage rose to about one and a half times its own usual.
21 of its 31 stories (68%) were about people being harmed, usually 46%. Quito accounted for 20 of Ecuador's 21 stories about harm, carried by 82 outlets. 20 of Quito's 20 stories were about protests or strikes. Its coverage was about one and a half times as angry as the world's.
72 of its 308 stories (23%) were about people being harmed, usually 15%. Reports of people injured ran at about 5 times the usual rate (21 stories). Anger in its coverage rose to about one and a half times its own usual.
304 of its 662 stories (46%) were about people being harmed, usually 37%. Kyiv accounted for 189 of Ukraine's 304 stories about harm, carried by 351 outlets. Reports of evacuations ran at about three times the usual rate (39 stories). Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's.
28 of its 54 stories (52%) were about people being harmed, usually 32%. Reports of people injured ran at more than ten times the usual rate (25 stories).
37 of its 91 stories (41%) were about people being harmed, usually 30%. Anger in its coverage rose to about one and a half times its own usual.
Reports of abductions ran at about 4 times the usual rate (11 stories). Its coverage was about twice as fearful as the world's.
Kabul accounted for 40 of Afghanistan's 94 stories about harm, carried by 42 outlets. Cholera was named in 10 of its stories about harm, about 7 times usual.
3 of Rabat's 3 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of people killed ran at about three times the usual rate (5 stories).
Also named far more than usual: outbreaks in Switzerland (10 of its stories, about 4 times its usual); flooding in China (15 of its stories, about three times its usual); cholera in Afghanistan (10 of its stories, about 7 times its usual); polio in UK (28 of its stories, about 5 times its usual); heatstroke in Canada (11 of its stories, more than ten times its usual).
Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 26 Jun. 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 8,517 stories about harm among 37,585 counted on 26 Jun.
Switzerland's news mentioned outbreaks about 4 times as often as usual. 23 in every 100 of the day's 37,585 news stories were about people being harmed, as usual. In South Africa, 50% of the news was about people being harmed, where 30% is usual. On 26 June 2021, a year earlier, the share was 25 in every 100, against 23 today. This week the news turned most often to Ecuador, on 6 of 7 days.
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 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?
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