We measure how the world's news covered people being harmed — and the help and hope within it.
260 of its 609 stories (43%) were about people being harmed, usually 34%. Colombo accounted for 229 of Sri Lanka's 260 stories about harm, carried by 478 outlets. 224 of Colombo's 229 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of people injured ran at about 9 times the usual rate (150 stories). Drought was named in 18 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual. Its coverage was about one and a half times as angry as the world's.
56 of its 113 stories (50%) were about people being harmed, usually 38%. Tehran accounted for 28 of Iran's 56 stories about harm, carried by 42 outlets. Reports of arrests ran at about three times the usual rate (23 stories). Building collapse was named in 14 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual. Its coverage was about one and a half times as angry as the world's.
197 of its 423 stories (47%) were about people being harmed, usually 33%. Reports of people displaced ran at about 7 times the usual rate (5 stories). Heavy rain was named in 42 of its stories about harm, about 4 times usual. Its coverage was about twice as fearful as the world's.
53 of its 161 stories (33%) were about people being harmed, usually 25%. Reports of people killed ran at about twice the usual rate (10 stories). Outbreaks were named in 15 of its stories about harm, about three times usual, with ebola. Grief in its coverage rose to about one and a half times its own usual.
305 of its 1,061 stories (29%) were about people being harmed, usually 13%. Reports of people killed ran at about 5 times the usual rate (109 stories). Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's.
35 of its 75 stories (47%) were about people being harmed, usually 28%. Reports of people killed ran at about twice the usual rate (10 stories). Outbreaks were named in 11 of its stories about harm, about 4 times usual.
51 of its 82 stories (62%) were about people being harmed, usually 49%. Reports of evacuations ran at more than ten times the usual rate (7 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as fearful as the world's.
38 of its 58 stories (66%) were about people being harmed, usually 54%. Aleppo accounted for 19 of Syria's 38 stories about harm, carried by 34 outlets. Its coverage was about one and a half times as angry as the world's.
8 of Mexico City's 10 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of arrests ran at about twice the usual rate (12 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as grief-stricken as the world's.
68 of its 157 stories (43%) were about people being harmed, usually 25%. Mecca accounted for 50 of Saudi Arabia's 68 stories about harm, carried by 241 outlets.
Also named far more than usual: illness in New Zealand (21 of its stories, about 4 times its usual); outbreaks in Indonesia (11 of its stories, about 4 times its usual); drought in France (12 of its stories, about 4 times its usual); tornadoes in Canada (20 of its stories, about 6 times its usual); natural hazards in Australia (11 of its stories, about 4 times its usual).
Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 9 Jul. 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 9,491 stories about harm among 42,564 counted on 9 Jul.
Help and hope: reports of people freed or reunited ran at about one and a half times the usual rate. of the day's 42,564 news stories, 22 in every 100 were about people being harmed, as usual. Sri Lanka stood out: 43% of its news was about people being harmed, usually 34%. A year earlier, on 9 July 2021, 23 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 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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