We measure how the world's news covered people being harmed — and the help and hope within it.
67 of its 130 stories (52%) were about people being harmed, usually 15%. Helsinki accounted for 34 of Finland's 67 stories about harm, carried by 115 outlets. Reports of people killed ran at about 6 times the usual rate (39 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as warm as the world's. Grief in its coverage rose to about twice its own usual.
93 of its 158 stories (59%) were about people being harmed, usually 39%. Quito accounted for 67 of Ecuador's 93 stories about harm, carried by 421 outlets. Covid was named in 13 of its stories about harm, about three times usual.
140 of its 446 stories (31%) were about people being harmed, usually 21%. Reports of people affected ran at about three times the usual rate (22 stories). Flooding was named in 40 of its stories about harm, about 7 times usual.
14 of its 32 stories (44%) were about people being harmed, usually 20%. 4 of Ndjamena's 5 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of people affected ran at about three times the usual rate (7 stories).
199 of its 916 stories (22%) were about people being harmed, usually 16%. Reports of evacuations ran at about 5 times the usual rate (5 stories). Anger in its coverage rose to about one and a half times its own usual.
Khartoum accounted for 24 of Sudan's 50 stories about harm, carried by 48 outlets. Cholera was named in 23 of its stories about harm, about three times usual. Its coverage was about one and a half times as angry as the world's.
Tehran accounted for 67 of Iran's 126 stories about harm, carried by 70 outlets. Reports of people affected ran at about twice the usual rate (6 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as fearful as the world's.
22 of its 44 stories (50%) were about people being harmed, usually 24%. Reports of arrests ran at about 4 times the usual rate (13 stories).
10 of its 23 stories (43%) were about people being harmed, usually 15%. 5 of Tirana's 9 stories were about protests or strikes.
25 of its 85 stories (29%) were about people being harmed, usually 15%. Anger in its coverage rose to about one and a half times its own usual.
Also named far more than usual: cholera in Sudan (23 of its stories, about three times its usual); storms in Brazil (11 of its stories, about 6 times its usual); earthquake in Pakistan (11 of its stories, about 4 times its usual); drownings in Australia (13 of its stories, about 6 times its usual); hiv in UK (24 of its stories, about 4 times its usual).
Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 16 Oct. 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 20,549 stories about harm among 101,426 counted on 16 Oct.
Finland stood out: 52% of its news was about people being harmed, usually 15%. 20 in every 100 of the day's 101,426 news stories were about people being harmed, above the usual 19. On the side of help, reports of people freed or reunited ran at about twice the usual rate. Reports of abductions ran at about twice the usual rate, most often about Israel and the US. Mentions of the cholera ran about three times their usual in Sudan's news.
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 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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