We measure how the world's news covered people being harmed — and the help and hope within it.
49 of its 84 stories (58%) were about people being harmed, usually 44%. Port-au-Prince accounted for 41 of Haiti's 49 stories about harm, carried by 61 outlets. 30 of Port-au-Prince's 41 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of refugees ran at about 5 times the usual rate (7 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as fearful as the world's.
150 of its 524 stories (29%) were about people being harmed, usually 23%. Seoul accounted for 115 of South Korea's 150 stories about harm, carried by 213 outlets. Reports of people falling ill ran at about 7 times the usual rate (16 stories). Typhoon was named in 92 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual, with tropical storm.
89 of its 164 stories (54%) were about people being harmed, usually 45%. Kabul accounted for 49 of Afghanistan's 89 stories about harm, carried by 71 outlets. Its coverage was about one and a half times as grief-stricken as the world's.
Reports of people injured ran at about three times the usual rate (36 stories). House fires were named in 24 of its stories about harm, about 5 times usual, with cyclone. Its coverage was about one and a half times as fearful as the world's. Anger in its coverage rose to about one and a half times its own usual.
81 of its 207 stories (39%) were about people being harmed, usually 15%. Reports of people displaced ran at more than ten times the usual rate (6 stories). Wildfires were named in 53 of its stories about harm, about 7 times usual.
92 of its 137 stories (67%) were about people being harmed, usually 58%. Damascus accounted for 40 of Syria's 92 stories about harm, carried by 38 outlets. Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's.
29 of its 137 stories (21%) were about people being harmed, usually 12%. Reports of evacuations ran at more than ten times the usual rate (12 stories). Train derailment was named in 13 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual, with heavy rain.
320 of its 929 stories (34%) were about people being harmed, usually 28%. Reports of people injured ran at about 4 times the usual rate (160 stories). Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's. Grief in its coverage rose to about one and a half times its own usual.
18 of its 33 stories (55%) were about people being harmed, usually 40%. Reports of people injured ran at about 6 times the usual rate (6 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as angry as the world's.
Reports of people killed ran at about twice the usual rate (15 stories). Illness was named in 16 of its stories about harm, about 5 times usual. Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's.
Also named far more than usual: wildfires in Portugal (53 of its stories, about 7 times its usual); cholera in Sudan (32 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); illness in Rwanda (16 of its stories, about 5 times its usual); train derailment in Norway (13 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); drought in Vietnam (19 of its stories, about three times its usual).
Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 8 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 20,707 stories about harm among 111,037 counted on 8 Aug.
Reports of people falling ill ran at about twice the usual rate, most often about South Korea and the US. 19 in every 100 of the day's 111,037 news stories were about people being harmed, as usual. A year earlier, on 8 August 2022, 22 in every 100 stories were about people being harmed, against 19 today. Haiti stood out: 58% of its news was about people being harmed, usually 44%.
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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