We measure how the world's news covered people being harmed — and the help and hope within it.
51 of its 62 stories (82%) were about people being harmed, usually 22%. Fagradalsfjall accounted for 24 of Iceland's 51 stories about harm, carried by 30 outlets. Reports of people affected ran at about 6 times the usual rate (16 stories). Volcanic eruption was named in 39 of its stories about harm, about 4 times usual, with earthquake.
269 of its 362 stories (74%) were about people being harmed, usually 59%. Kabul accounted for 235 of Afghanistan's 269 stories about harm, carried by 260 outlets. Its coverage was about twice as fearful as the world's.
58 of its 125 stories (46%) were about people being harmed, usually 31%. Beirut accounted for 41 of Lebanon's 58 stories about harm, carried by 40 outlets. Reports of people injured ran at about three times the usual rate (24 stories).
51 of its 106 stories (48%) were about people being harmed, usually 41%. 16 of Phnom Penh's 27 stories were about protests or strikes. Outbreaks were named in 10 of its stories about harm, about three times usual.
47 of its 170 stories (28%) were about people being harmed, usually 13%. Reports of people injured ran at more than ten times the usual rate (29 stories). Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's.
Reports of evacuations ran at about 4 times the usual rate (25 stories). Accidents were named in 41 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.
10 of its 19 stories (53%) were about people being harmed, usually 23%. Volcanic eruption was named in 10 of its stories about harm, about three times usual.
26 of its 31 stories (84%) were about people being harmed, usually 64%. Its coverage was about one and a half times as fearful as the world's.
Colombo accounted for 40 of Sri Lanka's 69 stories about harm, carried by 129 outlets. 25 of Colombo's 40 stories were about protests or strikes.
Reports of people injured ran at about twice the usual rate (14 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as grief-stricken as the world's.
Also named far more than usual: volcanic eruption in Tonga (10 of its stories, about three times its usual); flooding in Uganda (11 of its stories, about 5 times its usual); accidents in Ukraine (41 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); drought in New Zealand (13 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); helicopter crash in Pakistan (11 of its stories, more than ten times its usual).
Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 3 Aug. 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 16,923 stories about harm among 82,731 counted on 3 Aug.
No day had a lower share of stories about people being harmed since 3 May 2022. Stories about people being harmed made up 20 in every 100 of the day's 82,731 stories, below the usual 22. Iceland's news was 82% about people being harmed, against a usual 22%. In Iceland's news, mentions of volcanic eruption ran about 4 times their usual. A year earlier, on 3 August 2021, 23 in every 100 stories were about people being harmed, against 20 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 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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