We measure how the world's news covered people being harmed — and the help and hope within it.
67 of its 75 stories (89%) were about people being harmed, usually 28%. Reykjavik accounted for 39 of Iceland's 67 stories about harm, carried by 50 outlets. Reports of people affected ran at about twice the usual rate (11 stories). Earthquake was named in 39 of its stories about harm, about three times usual.
107 of its 194 stories (55%) were about people being harmed, usually 32%. Beirut accounted for 97 of Lebanon's 107 stories about harm, carried by 99 outlets. Reports of people displaced ran at about 7 times the usual rate (8 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as angry as the world's. Grief in its coverage rose to about one and a half times its own usual.
177 of its 227 stories (78%) were about people being harmed, usually 61%. Kabul accounted for 146 of Afghanistan's 177 stories about harm, carried by 191 outlets. Reports of evacuations ran at about twice the usual rate (6 stories). Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's.
12 of its 16 stories (75%) were about people being harmed, usually 26%. 3 of Hunga's 5 stories were about protests or strikes.
52 of its 153 stories (34%) were about people being harmed, usually 14%. Reports of people injured ran at about 8 times the usual rate (23 stories). Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's.
101 of its 213 stories (47%) were about people being harmed, usually 40%. Tehran accounted for 68 of Iran's 101 stories about harm, carried by 112 outlets. Reports of people injured ran at about three times the usual rate (17 stories).
165 of its 437 stories (38%) were about people being harmed, usually 31%. Reports of abductions ran at about 4 times the usual rate (5 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as fearful as the world's.
15 of its 58 stories (26%) were about people being harmed, usually 16%. Reports of people killed ran at about three times the usual rate (6 stories). Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's.
Reports of arrests ran at about twice the usual rate (49 stories). Power cuts were named in 13 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual. Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's.
37 of its 87 stories (43%) were about people being harmed, usually 22%. Budapest accounted for 28 of Hungary's 37 stories about harm, carried by 68 outlets.
Also named far more than usual: flooding in Mexico (12 of its stories, about 6 times its usual); flooding in Japan (16 of its stories, about 5 times its usual); heatwave in Germany (10 of its stories, about 4 times its usual); cyclone in Australia (22 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); power cuts in Ukraine (13 of its stories, more than ten times its usual).
Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 4 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 17,522 stories about harm among 82,500 counted on 4 Aug.
Iceland stood out: 89% of its news was about people being harmed, usually 28%. 21 in every 100 of the day's 82,500 news stories were about people being harmed, as usual. For the second day running, the news turned to Iceland. Iceland's news mentioned the earthquake about three times as often as usual. On 4 August 2021, a year earlier, the share was 21 in every 100, the same as 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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