We measure how the world's news covered people being harmed — and the help and hope within it.
300 of its 380 stories (79%) were about people being harmed, usually 67%. Gaza accounted for 196 of Palestine's 300 stories about harm, carried by 180 outlets. Polio was named in 92 of its stories about harm, about 4 times usual, with outbreaks. Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's.
147 of its 244 stories (60%) were about people being harmed, usually 53%. Dhaka accounted for 65 of Bangladesh's 147 stories about harm, carried by 58 outlets. Reports of abductions ran at about 6 times the usual rate (6 stories). Heavy rain was named in 19 of its stories about harm, about 5 times usual, with storms.
41 of its 142 stories (29%) were about people being harmed, usually 17%. 6 of Hong Kong's 10 stories were about protests or strikes. Fear in its coverage rose to about one and a half times its own usual.
29 of its 107 stories (27%) were about people being harmed, usually 15%. Reports of people killed ran at about 4 times the usual rate (13 stories).
333 of its 832 stories (40%) were about people being harmed, usually 32%. Reports of evacuations ran at about 10 times the usual rate (5 stories). Storms were named in 26 of its stories about harm, about 4 times usual. Its coverage was about twice as fearful as the world's.
107 of its 198 stories (54%) were about people being harmed, usually 47%. Kabul accounted for 45 of Afghanistan's 107 stories about harm, carried by 124 outlets. Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's.
169 of its 423 stories (40%) were about people being harmed, usually 25%. 16 of Rio de Janeiro's 29 stories were about protests or strikes.
16 of its 30 stories (53%) were about people being harmed, usually 18%. Reports of arrests ran at about 7 times the usual rate (8 stories).
184 of its 951 stories (19%) were about people being harmed, usually 10%. Reports of people affected ran at about twice the usual rate (17 stories).
18 of its 65 stories (28%) were about people being harmed, usually 12%. Reports of people affected ran at about three times the usual rate (7 stories).
Also named far more than usual: typhoon in Japan (75 of its stories, about three times its usual); polio in Israel (107 of its stories, about 5 times its usual); oil spill in Greece (16 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); drownings in Spain (15 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); storms in Pakistan (26 of its stories, about 4 times its usual).
Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 30 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 17,628 stories about harm among 97,383 counted on 30 Aug.
Mentions of the typhoon ran about three times their usual in Japan's news. of the day's 97,383 news stories, 18 in every 100 were about people being harmed, as usual. A year earlier, on 31 August 2023, 20 in every 100 stories were about people being harmed, against 18 today. Palestine's news was 79% about people being harmed, against a usual 67%.
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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