We measure how the world's news covered people being harmed — and the help and hope within it.
193 of its 336 stories (57%) were about people being harmed, usually 18%. Hanoi accounted for 79 of Vietnam's 193 stories about harm, carried by 275 outlets. Reports of people affected ran at about 8 times the usual rate (108 stories). Typhoon was named in 168 of its stories about harm, about 4 times usual, with landslides, heavy rain and drownings. Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's.
138 of its 157 stories (88%) were about people being harmed, usually 50%. Masyaf accounted for 91 of Syria's 138 stories about harm, carried by 135 outlets. Reports of people injured ran at about 6 times the usual rate (111 stories). Its coverage was about three times as angry as the world's.
79 of its 133 stories (59%) were about people being harmed, usually 48%. Caracas accounted for 53 of Venezuela's 79 stories about harm, carried by 91 outlets. Reports of refugees ran at about three times the usual rate (12 stories).
37 of its 62 stories (60%) were about people being harmed, usually 46%. 11 of Beirut's 17 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of arrests ran at about 6 times the usual rate (10 stories).
35 of its 76 stories (46%) were about people being harmed, usually 15%. Reports of people affected ran at about 6 times the usual rate (33 stories). Heavy rain was named in 10 of its stories about harm, about 4 times usual. Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's.
88 of its 103 stories (85%) were about people being harmed, usually 67%. Reports of people injured ran at about twice the usual rate (18 stories). Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's.
14 of its 33 stories (42%) were about people being harmed, usually 15%. Reports of people killed ran at about 4 times the usual rate (10 stories).
13 of its 26 stories (50%) were about people being harmed, usually 22%. Reports of people killed ran at about twice the usual rate (9 stories).
20 of its 58 stories (34%) were about people being harmed, usually 18%. Reports of arrests ran at about three times the usual rate (10 stories).
109 of its 315 stories (35%) were about people being harmed, usually 25%. Reports of abductions ran at about 4 times the usual rate (7 stories).
Also named far more than usual: hurricane in Mexico (38 of its stories, about 8 times its usual); heavy rain in Morocco (10 of its stories, about 4 times its usual); polio in Pakistan (37 of its stories, about 8 times its usual); outbreaks in South Africa (22 of its stories, about three times its usual); illness in Russia (18 of its stories, about 5 times its usual).
Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 9 Sep. 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 18,102 stories about harm among 95,547 counted on 9 Sep.
In Vietnam, 57% of the news was about people being harmed, where 18% is usual. Stories about people being harmed made up 19 in every 100 of the day's 95,547 stories, as usual. It was the third day running that the news turned to Vietnam. On 10 September 2023, a year earlier, the share was 19 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 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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