We measure how the world's news covered people being harmed — and the help and hope within it.
181 of its 529 stories (34%) were about people being harmed, usually 20%. Seoul accounted for 139 of South Korea's 181 stories about harm, carried by 382 outlets. Reports of arrests ran at more than ten times the usual rate (56 stories). Heatwave was named in 18 of its stories about harm, about 4 times usual. Its coverage was about one and a half times as angry as the world's.
81 of its 175 stories (46%) were about people being harmed, usually 29%. Beirut accounted for 65 of Lebanon's 81 stories about harm, carried by 78 outlets. Reports of people displaced ran at about 9 times the usual rate (13 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as angry as the world's.
276 of its 484 stories (57%) were about people being harmed, usually 46%. Niamey accounted for 212 of Niger's 276 stories about harm, carried by 329 outlets. Reports of evacuations ran at about 5 times the usual rate (89 stories).
48 of its 168 stories (29%) were about people being harmed, usually 18%. Reports of people injured ran at about 5 times the usual rate (10 stories). Storms were named in 10 of its stories about harm, about 4 times usual.
Darfur accounted for 37 of Sudan's 93 stories about harm, carried by 72 outlets. Reports of abductions ran at about 6 times the usual rate (8 stories). Train derailment was named in 12 of its stories about harm, about 4 times usual. Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's. Fear in its coverage rose to about one and a half times its own usual.
26 of its 39 stories (67%) were about people being harmed, usually 44%. Dakar accounted for 15 of Senegal's 26 stories about harm, carried by 22 outlets. Its coverage was about one and a half times as angry as the world's.
Idlib accounted for 25 of Syria's 65 stories about harm, carried by 30 outlets. Illness was named in 10 of its stories about harm, about three times usual. Its coverage was about three times as grief-stricken as the world's.
93 of its 293 stories (32%) were about people being harmed, usually 22%. Reports of people affected ran at about twice the usual rate (9 stories).
29 of its 135 stories (21%) were about people being harmed, usually 11%. Reports of people injured ran at about 9 times the usual rate (8 stories).
13 of its 51 stories (25%) were about people being harmed, usually 14%. Reports of people affected ran at about three times the usual rate (5 stories).
Also named far more than usual: illness in Sweden (21 of its stories, about 4 times its usual); typhoon in Japan (42 of its stories, about 8 times its usual); outbreaks in Vietnam (30 of its stories, about three times its usual); covid in Kenya (18 of its stories, about three times its usual); illness in Syria (10 of its stories, about three 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 20,674 stories about harm among 116,210 counted on 3 Aug.
It was the lowest share of stories about people being harmed since 31 May 2023. of the day's 116,210 news stories, 18 in every 100 were about people being harmed, below the usual 19. South Korea stood out: 34% of its news was about people being harmed, usually 20%. A year earlier, on 3 August 2022, 20 in every 100 stories were about people being harmed, against 18 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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