We measure how the world's news covered people being harmed — and the help and hope within it.
67 of its 89 stories (75%) were about people being harmed, usually 33%. Kigali accounted for 38 of Rwanda's 67 stories about harm, carried by 52 outlets. Reports of people falling ill ran at about 4 times the usual rate (6 stories). Ebola was named in 30 of its stories about harm, about three times usual. Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's.
100 of its 148 stories (68%) were about people being harmed, usually 35%. Kathmandu accounted for 76 of Nepal's 100 stories about harm, carried by 107 outlets. Reports of people displaced ran at about 4 times the usual rate (6 stories).
60 of its 82 stories (73%) were about people being harmed, usually 61%. Damascus accounted for 42 of Syria's 60 stories about harm, carried by 41 outlets. Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's.
36 of its 65 stories (55%) were about people being harmed, usually 44%. Reports of abductions ran at about 4 times the usual rate (10 stories). Hunger was named in 14 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual.
70 of its 197 stories (36%) were about people being harmed, usually 18%. Reports of evacuations ran at more than ten times the usual rate (12 stories). Typhoon was named in 49 of its stories about harm, about 7 times usual, with flooding, storm surge and storms.
82 of Delhi's 161 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of refugees ran at about 9 times the usual rate (14 stories). Landslides were named in 47 of its stories about harm, about three times usual.
Tel Aviv accounted for 622 of Israel's 1,676 stories about harm, carried by 919 outlets. Reports of evacuations ran at about three times the usual rate (197 stories). Its coverage was about three times as angry as the world's.
Beirut accounted for 276 of Lebanon's 358 stories about harm, carried by 320 outlets. Flooding was named in 21 of its stories about harm, about 6 times usual, with drownings and landslides. Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's.
37 of its 63 stories (59%) were about people being harmed, usually 25%. Reports of arrests ran at about twice the usual rate (8 stories).
139 of its 367 stories (38%) were about people being harmed, usually 22%. Reports of people killed ran at about 4 times the usual rate (92 stories).
Also named far more than usual: typhoon in Taiwan (49 of its stories, about 7 times its usual); flooding in Lebanon (21 of its stories, about 6 times its usual); landslides in India (47 of its stories, about three times its usual); drownings in US (109 of its stories, about three times its usual).
Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 1 Oct. 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 21,048 stories about harm among 106,446 counted on 1 Oct.
Reports of volunteers, a sign of help, ran at about one and a half times the usual rate. 20 in every 100 of the day's 106,446 news stories were about people being harmed, above the usual 19. For the second day running, the news turned to Rwanda. Rwanda stood out: 75% of its news was about people being harmed, usually 33%. A year earlier, on 2 October 2023, 18 in every 100 stories were about people being harmed, against 20 today. Over September, 19 in every 100 stories were about people being harmed, against 18 in September 2023.
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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