We measure how the world's news covered people being harmed — and the help and hope within it.
99 of its 241 stories (41%) were about people being harmed, usually 20%. Rio Grande do Sul accounted for 62 of Brazil's 99 stories about harm, carried by 174 outlets. Reports of people displaced ran at more than ten times the usual rate (27 stories). Drought was named in 33 of its stories about harm, about 7 times usual, with landslides. Fear in its coverage rose to about one and a half times its own usual.
98 of its 170 stories (58%) were about people being harmed, usually 33%. Poonch accounted for 43 of Kashmir's 98 stories about harm, carried by 33 outlets. Reports of people injured ran at more than ten times the usual rate (61 stories). Its coverage was about three times as fearful as the world's. Anger in its coverage rose to about twice its own usual.
128 of its 408 stories (31%) were about people being harmed, usually 19%. Reports of people affected ran at about 5 times the usual rate (57 stories).
63 of its 270 stories (23%) were about people being harmed, usually 17%. Reports of people injured ran at about 5 times the usual rate (5 stories).
91 of its 135 stories (67%) were about people being harmed, usually 31%. Reports of people injured ran at about 4 times the usual rate (16 stories). Landslides were named in 38 of its stories about harm, about 5 times usual.
26 of its 42 stories (62%) were about people being harmed, usually 25%. Reports of people displaced ran at about 7 times the usual rate (6 stories).
11 of its 11 stories (100%) were about people being harmed, usually 47%. Reports of people injured ran at about three times the usual rate (5 stories).
16 of its 35 stories (46%) were about people being harmed, usually 27%. Reports of arrests ran at about three times the usual rate (7 stories).
703 of its 990 stories (71%) were about people being harmed, usually 63%. Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's.
34 of its 130 stories (26%) were about people being harmed, usually 16%. Reports of people killed ran at about three times the usual rate (20 stories).
Also named far more than usual: landslides in Indonesia (38 of its stories, about 5 times its usual); malaria in Nigeria (14 of its stories, about three times its usual).
Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 4 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 11,508 stories about harm among 61,397 counted on 4 May.
Indonesia's news mentioned landslides about 5 times as often as usual. 19 in every 100 of the day's 61,397 news stories were about people being harmed, as usual. In Brazil, 41% of the news was about people being harmed, where 20% is usual. On 5 May 2023, a year earlier, the share was 18 in every 100, against 19 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 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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