We measure how the world's news covered people being harmed — and the help and hope within it.
320 of its 686 stories (47%) were about people being harmed, usually 13%. Palermo accounted for 265 of Italy's 320 stories about harm, carried by 492 outlets. Reports of people affected ran at more than ten times the usual rate (270 stories). Tornadoes were named in 125 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual, with drownings, flooding and landslides.
83 of its 95 stories (87%) were about people being harmed, usually 67%. Reports of people falling ill ran at more than ten times the usual rate (14 stories). Cholera was named in 30 of its stories about harm, about 6 times usual. Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's.
194 of Kolkata's 281 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of people falling ill ran at about 7 times the usual rate (6 stories). Poisoning was named in 17 of its stories about harm, about three times usual, with food poisoning. Its coverage was about one and a half times as angry as the world's.
Tel Aviv accounted for 318 of Israel's 847 stories about harm, carried by 562 outlets. Polio was named in 92 of its stories about harm, about 4 times usual. Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's.
Reports of refugees ran at about 4 times the usual rate (7 stories). Respiratory illness was named in 11 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual. Its coverage was about one and a half times as fearful as the world's.
Dhaka accounted for 69 of Bangladesh's 119 stories about harm, carried by 64 outlets. 43 of Dhaka's 69 stories were about protests or strikes. Its coverage was about one and a half times as angry as the world's.
30 of its 36 stories (83%) were about people being harmed, usually 60%. Hunger was named in 11 of its stories about harm, about 4 times usual, with cholera.
27 of its 79 stories (34%) were about people being harmed, usually 20%. Grief in its coverage rose to about one and a half times its own usual.
97 of its 738 stories (13%) were about people being harmed, usually 6%. Reports of people killed ran at about three times the usual rate (38 stories).
14 of its 48 stories (29%) were about people being harmed, usually 18%. Reports of people killed ran at about 4 times the usual rate (7 stories).
Also named far more than usual: hunger in Yemen (11 of its stories, about 4 times its usual); covid in Indonesia (10 of its stories, about three times its usual); respiratory illness in Congo (11 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); volcanic eruption in Philippines (18 of its stories, about 9 times its usual); earthquake in Russia (24 of its stories, about 4 times its usual).
Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 19 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 16,514 stories about harm among 87,231 counted on 19 Aug.
In Italy, 47% of the news was about people being harmed, where 13% is usual. Stories about people being harmed made up 19 in every 100 of the day's 87,231 stories, as usual. Mentions of tornadoes ran more than ten times their usual in Italy's news. A year earlier, on 20 August 2023, 20 in every 100 stories were about people being harmed, 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?
Unlock a year of trends, free. Follow up to 5 countries, with a bell when their news changes, and 👍 vote for Pro — ten years of the archive, any period, daily alerts.
Create a free accountSign in · a username, an email and a password.