We measure how the world's news covered people being harmed — and the help and hope within it.
242 of its 512 stories (47%) were about people being harmed, usually 32%. Chernihiv accounted for 93 of Ukraine's 242 stories about harm, carried by 124 outlets. Reports of people injured ran at about three times the usual rate (155 stories). Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's.
492 of its 1,308 stories (38%) were about people being harmed, usually 22%. Reports of evacuations ran at about 6 times the usual rate (150 stories). Wildfires were named in 313 of its stories about harm, about three times usual.
Dhaka accounted for 55 of Bangladesh's 94 stories about harm, carried by 29 outlets. Reports of people injured ran at about twice the usual rate (27 stories). Anger in its coverage rose to about one and a half times its own usual.
9 of its 26 stories (35%) were about people being harmed, usually 19%. Reports of people injured ran at more than ten times the usual rate (6 stories).
74 of its 97 stories (76%) were about people being harmed, usually 60%. Nablus accounted for 55 of Palestine's 74 stories about harm, carried by 57 outlets. Reports of abductions ran at about three times the usual rate (6 stories). Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's.
52 of its 83 stories (63%) were about people being harmed, usually 51%. Quito accounted for 31 of Ecuador's 52 stories about harm, carried by 118 outlets. Covid was named in 24 of its stories about harm, about 9 times usual. Its coverage was about one and a half times as fearful as the world's.
91 of its 272 stories (33%) were about people being harmed, usually 21%. Reports of evacuations ran at more than ten times the usual rate (15 stories). Hurricane was named in 62 of its stories about harm, about 5 times usual, with tropical storm and power cuts.
339 of its 803 stories (42%) were about people being harmed, usually 34%. Reports of evacuations ran at about 8 times the usual rate (10 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as grief-stricken as the world's.
74 of its 163 stories (45%) were about people being harmed, usually 38%. Road crashes were named in 17 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual. Its coverage was about twice as fearful as the world's. Grief in its coverage rose to about twice its own usual.
Tehran accounted for 52 of Iran's 80 stories about harm, carried by 176 outlets. Illness was named in 21 of its stories about harm, about three times usual. Its coverage was about one and a half times as fearful as the world's.
Also named far more than usual: hurricane in Mexico (62 of its stories, about 5 times its usual); wildfires in Spain (54 of its stories, about 5 times its usual); tsunami in Japan (31 of its stories, about 9 times its usual); covid in Ecuador (24 of its stories, about 9 times its usual); hurricane in US (610 of its stories, about 4 times its usual).
Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 20 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 10,421 stories about harm among 52,672 counted on 20 Aug.
Reports of evacuations ran at about twice the usual rate, most often about Canada and the US. 20 in every 100 of the day's 52,672 news stories were about people being harmed, as usual. A year earlier, on 20 August 2022, 23 in every 100 stories were about people being harmed, against 20 today. Ukraine stood out: 47% of its news was about people being harmed, usually 32%.
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 much harsher 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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