We measure how the world's news covered people being harmed — and the help and hope within it.
175 of its 387 stories (45%) were about people being harmed, usually 32%. Nairobi accounted for 82 of Kenya's 175 stories about harm, carried by 73 outlets. Reports of evacuations ran at about 8 times the usual rate (17 stories). Storms were named in 29 of its stories about harm, about 5 times usual, with malaria, cyclone and cholera.
53 of its 113 stories (47%) were about people being harmed, usually 34%. Beirut accounted for 43 of Lebanon's 53 stories about harm, carried by 59 outlets. Reports of refugees ran at about 6 times the usual rate (30 stories).
69 of its 126 stories (55%) were about people being harmed, usually 44%. Reports of evacuations ran at about three times the usual rate (6 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as fearful as the world's.
354 of its 1,725 stories (21%) were about people being harmed, usually 14%. Reports of people injured ran at about 5 times the usual rate (44 stories). Heavy rain was named in 55 of its stories about harm, about 7 times usual, with tornadoes.
Gaza accounted for 317 of Palestine's 433 stories about harm, carried by 334 outlets. 176 of Gaza's 317 stories were about protests or strikes. Its coverage was about one and a half times as angry as the world's.
50 of its 72 stories (69%) were about people being harmed, usually 50%. Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's.
17 of its 25 stories (68%) were about people being harmed, usually 41%. Outbreaks were named in 14 of its stories about harm, about 6 times usual.
17 of its 40 stories (42%) were about people being harmed, usually 23%. 3 of Ndjamena's 5 stories were about protests or strikes.
36 of its 116 stories (31%) were about people being harmed, usually 20%. Reports of arrests ran at about three times the usual rate (8 stories).
15 of its 46 stories (33%) were about people being harmed, usually 17%. Reports of people injured ran at about 9 times the usual rate (9 stories).
Also named far more than usual: outbreaks in Congo (14 of its stories, about 6 times its usual); flooding in Brazil (15 of its stories, about 9 times its usual); flooding in Ghana (11 of its stories, about 6 times its usual); malaria in Indonesia (12 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); flu in Japan (10 of its stories, about 5 times its usual).
Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 2 May. 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 20,947 stories about harm among 114,799 counted on 2 May.
It was the fourth day running that the news turned to Kenya. of the day's 114,799 news stories, 18 in every 100 were about people being harmed, as usual. Congo's news mentioned outbreaks about 6 times as often as usual. Kenya's news was 45% about people being harmed, against a usual 32%. A year earlier, on 3 May 2023, 19 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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