We measure how the world's news covered people being harmed — and the help and hope within it.
50 of its 70 stories (71%) were about people being harmed, usually 35%. Madang accounted for 18 of Papua New Guinea's 50 stories about harm, carried by 22 outlets. Reports of people injured ran at about 6 times the usual rate (13 stories). Landslides were named in 37 of its stories about harm, about 5 times usual. Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's.
34 of its 91 stories (37%) were about people being harmed, usually 17%. Brussels accounted for 28 of Belgium's 34 stories about harm, carried by 32 outlets. Reports of people injured ran at about 6 times the usual rate (11 stories). Anger in its coverage rose to about one and a half times its own usual.
67 of its 211 stories (32%) were about people being harmed, usually 23%. Reports of refugees ran at about 9 times the usual rate (12 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as warm as the world's.
98 of its 334 stories (29%) were about people being harmed, usually 22%. Reports of people affected ran at about twice the usual rate (13 stories). Flooding was named in 16 of its stories about harm, about three times usual, with heavy rain.
260 of its 764 stories (34%) were about people being harmed, usually 28%. Reports of people displaced ran at about 9 times the usual rate (10 stories). Landslides were named in 15 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual, with hypothermia.
Kharkiv accounted for 154 of Ukraine's 288 stories about harm, carried by 373 outlets. Power cuts were named in 25 of its stories about harm, about 4 times usual. Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's.
Kabul accounted for 45 of Afghanistan's 102 stories about harm, carried by 56 outlets. Reports of arrests ran at about three times the usual rate (15 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as angry as the world's.
38 of its 196 stories (19%) were about people being harmed, usually 5%. Reports of people killed ran at about three times the usual rate (5 stories).
20 of its 23 stories (87%) were about people being harmed, usually 65%. Its coverage was about one and a half times as angry as the world's.
24 of its 95 stories (25%) were about people being harmed, usually 15%. Reports of refugees ran at about 7 times the usual rate (9 stories).
Also named far more than usual: covid in Saudi Arabia (19 of its stories, about three times its usual); dengue in Pakistan (34 of its stories, about 4 times its usual); power cuts in Ukraine (25 of its stories, about 4 times its usual); landslides in South Africa (15 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); hunger in UK (11 of its stories, about 4 times its usual).
Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 12 Sep. 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 14,344 stories about harm among 70,503 counted on 12 Sep.
The news turned to Papua New Guinea for the second day running. 20 in every 100 of the day's 70,503 news stories were about people being harmed, as usual. In Papua New Guinea's news, mentions of landslides ran about 5 times their usual. Papua New Guinea stood out: 71% of its news was about people being harmed, usually 35%. A year earlier, on 12 September 2021, 29 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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