We measure how the world's news covered people being harmed — and the help and hope within it.
35 of its 43 stories (81%) were about people being harmed, usually 36%. Freetown accounted for 27 of Sierra Leone's 35 stories about harm, carried by 32 outlets. 24 of Freetown's 27 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of arrests ran at about 4 times the usual rate (12 stories). Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's.
44 of its 48 stories (92%) were about people being harmed, usually 25%. Cetinje accounted for 29 of Montenegro's 44 stories about harm, carried by 47 outlets. Reports of people injured ran at more than ten times the usual rate (32 stories). Its coverage was about three times as grief-stricken as the world's.
31 of its 73 stories (42%) were about people being harmed, usually 32%. Reports of people killed ran at about twice the usual rate (8 stories). Anger in its coverage rose to about one and a half times its own usual.
10 of its 17 stories (59%) were about people being harmed, usually 27%.
20 of its 31 stories (65%) were about people being harmed, usually 24%. Varazdin accounted for 18 of Croatia's 20 stories about harm, carried by 64 outlets. 18 of Varazdin's 18 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of people injured ran at about 4 times the usual rate (18 stories).
44 of its 96 stories (46%) were about people being harmed, usually 37%. Beirut accounted for 35 of Lebanon's 44 stories about harm, carried by 52 outlets. 22 of Beirut's 35 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of abductions ran at about 7 times the usual rate (17 stories).
Kabul accounted for 103 of Afghanistan's 147 stories about harm, carried by 200 outlets. Reports of evacuations ran at about three times the usual rate (11 stories). Hunger was named in 10 of its stories about harm, about 4 times usual. Its coverage was about one and a half times as angry as the world's.
31 of its 35 stories (89%) were about people being harmed, usually 66%. 12 of Somalia's 13 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of people displaced ran at about three times the usual rate (10 stories).
13 of its 29 stories (45%) were about people being harmed, usually 30%. 3 of Tunis' 6 stories were about protests or strikes. Its coverage was about one and a half times as fearful as the world's.
Reports of evacuations ran at about twice the usual rate (17 stories). Illness was named in 21 of its stories about harm, about three times usual. Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's.
Also named far more than usual: illness in Ukraine (21 of its stories, about three times its usual); hunger in Afghanistan (10 of its stories, about 4 times its usual); nipah virus in China (13 of its stories, about 6 times its usual); road crashes in US (191 of its stories, about 5 times its usual); power cuts in Canada (18 of its stories, about 5 times its usual).
Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 12 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 16,018 stories about harm among 73,782 counted on 12 Aug.
For the third day running, the news turned to Sierra Leone. Stories about people being harmed made up 22 in every 100 of the day's 73,782 stories, as usual. Sierra Leone's news was 81% about people being harmed, against a usual 36%. A year earlier, on 12 August 2021, 24 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 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?
Unlock a year of trends, free. Follow up to 5 countries, with a bell when their news changes, and 👍 vote for Pro — ten years of the archive, any period, daily alerts.
Create a free accountSign in · a username, an email and a password.