We measure how the world's news covered people being harmed — and the help and hope within it.
178 of its 314 stories (57%) were about people being harmed, usually 22%. Hanoi accounted for 85 of Vietnam's 178 stories about harm, carried by 260 outlets. Reports of people affected ran at about 5 times the usual rate (113 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as grief-stricken as the world's.
123 of its 375 stories (33%) were about people being harmed, usually 26%. 29 of Nairobi's 53 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of people affected ran at about 4 times the usual rate (58 stories). Power cuts were named in 30 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual.
561 of its 1,532 stories (37%) were about people being harmed, usually 26%. Reports of people displaced ran at about three times the usual rate (36 stories). Flooding was named in 124 of its stories about harm, about 4 times usual, with heavy rain and diphtheria.
74 of its 188 stories (39%) were about people being harmed, usually 28%. Jammu accounted for 55 of Kashmir's 74 stories about harm, carried by 42 outlets. Its coverage was about three times as fearful as the world's.
Gaza accounted for 137 of Palestine's 234 stories about harm, carried by 159 outlets. Helicopter crash was named in 11 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual. Its coverage was about three times as grief-stricken as the world's.
Philippine accounted for 134 of the Philippines' 212 stories about harm, carried by 29 outlets. Volcanic eruption was named in 16 of its stories about harm, about 5 times usual. Its coverage was about one and a half times as fearful as the world's.
Reports of people displaced ran at about 4 times the usual rate (12 stories). Plane crash was named in 11 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual. Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's.
23 of its 43 stories (53%) were about people being harmed, usually 27%. Reports of people killed ran at about twice the usual rate (15 stories).
Reports of evacuations ran at about three times the usual rate (131 stories). Storm surge was named in 393 of its stories about harm, about 9 times usual, with storms and typhoon.
65 of Melbourne's 96 stories were about protests or strikes. Anger in its coverage rose to about one and a half times its own usual.
Also named far more than usual: drought in Brazil (21 of its stories, about 6 times its usual); heavy rain in Thailand (15 of its stories, about 5 times its usual); polio in Pakistan (31 of its stories, about 6 times its usual); volcanic eruption in Philippines (16 of its stories, about 5 times its usual); storm surge in US (393 of its stories, about 9 times its usual).
Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 11 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 20,262 stories about harm among 108,539 counted on 11 Sep.
It was the fifth day running that the news turned to Vietnam. of the day's 108,539 news stories, 19 in every 100 were about people being harmed, as usual. Vietnam stood out: 57% of its news was about people being harmed, usually 22%. Mentions of the drought ran about 6 times their usual in Brazil's news. A year earlier, on 12 September 2023, 18 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 much 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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