We measure how the world's news covered people being harmed — and the help and hope within it.
48 of its 93 stories (52%) were about people being harmed, usually 40%. Tigray accounted for 37 of Ethiopia's 48 stories about harm, carried by 49 outlets. Reports of people displaced ran at about three times the usual rate (11 stories). Its coverage was about three times as angry as the world's.
Kabul accounted for 38 of Afghanistan's 90 stories about harm, carried by 49 outlets. Reports of abductions ran at about 9 times the usual rate (5 stories). Flooding was named in 17 of its stories about harm, about 4 times usual. Its coverage was about one and a half times as fearful as the world's.
284 of its 657 stories (43%) were about people being harmed, usually 36%. Reports of people displaced ran at about 4 times the usual rate (10 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as fearful as the world's.
26 of its 102 stories (25%) were about people being harmed, usually 16%. Reports of people killed ran at about three times the usual rate (9 stories).
31 of its 63 stories (49%) were about people being harmed, usually 18%. Sofia accounted for 25 of Bulgaria's 31 stories about harm, carried by 45 outlets.
11 of its 32 stories (34%) were about people being harmed, usually 18%. Reports of arrests ran at about 7 times the usual rate (6 stories).
25 of its 61 stories (41%) were about people being harmed, usually 31%. Its coverage was about one and a half times as grief-stricken as the world's.
36 of its 50 stories (72%) were about people being harmed, usually 61%. Darfur accounted for 25 of Sudan's 36 stories about harm, carried by 42 outlets.
67 of its 181 stories (37%) were about people being harmed, usually 30%. Earthquake was named in 17 of its stories about harm, about 7 times usual, with tsunami.
Reports of people displaced ran at about 4 times the usual rate (14 stories). Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's.
Also named far more than usual: covid in Finland (20 of its stories, about 4 times its usual); drought in China (98 of its stories, about 4 times its usual); tropical storm in Philippines (52 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); drought in Iraq (12 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); earthquake in Indonesia (17 of its stories, about 7 times its usual).
Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 24 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 16,389 stories about harm among 80,589 counted on 24 Aug.
No day had a lower share of stories about people being harmed since 21 February 2020. Stories about people being harmed made up 20 in every 100 of the day's 80,589 stories, below the usual 22. Mentions of Covid ran about 4 times their usual in Finland's news. A year earlier, on 24 August 2021, 25 in every 100 stories were about people being harmed, against 20 today. Ethiopia stood out: 52% of its news was about people being harmed, usually 40%.
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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