We measure how the world's news covered people being harmed — and the help and hope within it.
41 of its 68 stories (60%) were about people being harmed, usually 42%. Port-au-Prince accounted for 21 of Haiti's 41 stories about harm, carried by 83 outlets. 11 of Port-au-Prince's 21 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of evacuations ran at more than ten times the usual rate (7 stories).
44 of its 63 stories (70%) were about people being harmed, usually 43%. Reports of arrests ran at about 5 times the usual rate (25 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as angry as the world's.
20 of its 54 stories (37%) were about people being harmed, usually 14%. Reports of people killed ran at about 5 times the usual rate (16 stories).
58 of its 269 stories (22%) were about people being harmed, usually 15%. Grief in its coverage rose to about one and a half times its own usual.
43 of its 118 stories (36%) were about people being harmed, usually 24%. Bishkek accounted for 36 of Kyrgyzstan's 43 stories about harm, carried by 21 outlets. 23 of Bishkek's 36 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of arrests ran at about three times the usual rate (20 stories).
82 of its 122 stories (67%) were about people being harmed, usually 54%. Reports of arrests ran at about twice the usual rate (25 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as angry as the world's.
Tehran accounted for 565 of Iran's 983 stories about harm, carried by 1,018 outlets. Snowstorms were named in 75 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual, with plane crash. Its coverage was about three times as grief-stricken as the world's.
72 of its 184 stories (39%) were about people being harmed, usually 24%. Reports of people affected ran at about twice the usual rate (7 stories).
22 of its 52 stories (42%) were about people being harmed, usually 23%. Reports of people injured ran at more than ten times the usual rate (12 stories).
20 of its 58 stories (34%) were about people being harmed, usually 22%. 4 of Lima's 7 stories were about protests or strikes.
Also named far more than usual: covid in Taiwan (26 of its stories, about three times its usual); hepatitis in UK (232 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); earthquake in Chile (10 of its stories, about 9 times its usual); heatwave in Pakistan (25 of its stories, about 9 times its usual); snowstorms in Iran (75 of its stories, more than ten times its usual).
Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 20 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 17,434 stories about harm among 94,722 counted on 20 May.
18 in every 100 of the day's 94,722 news stories were about people being harmed, as usual. On 21 May 2023, a year earlier, the share was 18 in every 100, the same as 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 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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