We measure how the world's news covered people being harmed — and the help and hope within it.
123 of its 217 stories (57%) were about people being harmed, usually 21%. Taipei accounted for 61 of Taiwan's 123 stories about harm, carried by 120 outlets. Reports of people displaced ran at more than ten times the usual rate (8 stories). Typhoon was named in 105 of its stories about harm, about 4 times usual, with heavy rain and landslides. Its coverage was about one and a half times as grief-stricken as the world's.
48 of its 58 stories (83%) were about people being harmed, usually 38%. Kigali accounted for 32 of Rwanda's 48 stories about harm, carried by 70 outlets. Reports of people falling ill ran at about 7 times the usual rate (11 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as grief-stricken as the world's.
Beirut accounted for 338 of Lebanon's 408 stories about harm, carried by 491 outlets. Reports of evacuations ran at about 5 times the usual rate (98 stories). Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's.
26 of its 45 stories (58%) were about people being harmed, usually 26%. Reports of people affected ran at about twice the usual rate (6 stories).
23 of its 31 stories (74%) were about people being harmed, usually 41%. the Red Sea accounted for 17 of Djibouti's 23 stories about harm, carried by 47 outlets. Reports of people killed ran at about twice the usual rate (22 stories).
41 of its 111 stories (37%) were about people being harmed, usually 25%. Reports of people injured ran at more than ten times the usual rate (6 stories). Anger in its coverage rose to about one and a half times its own usual.
36 of its 45 stories (80%) were about people being harmed, usually 69%. Reports of people affected ran at about three times the usual rate (21 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as grief-stricken as the world's.
Reports of abductions ran at about 4 times the usual rate (11 stories). Road crashes were named in 12 of its stories about harm, about three times usual, with overdoses. Its coverage was about one and a half times as fearful as the world's. Grief in its coverage rose to about one and a half times its own usual.
60 of its 180 stories (33%) were about people being harmed, usually 18%. Reports of arrests ran at more than ten times the usual rate (16 stories).
15 of its 21 stories (71%) were about people being harmed, usually 38%. Reports of arrests ran at about three times the usual rate (12 stories).
Also named far more than usual: tropical storm in Bahamas (18 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); bird flu in Vietnam (25 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); flooding in New Zealand (27 of its stories, about 5 times its usual); outbreaks in Germany (20 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); road crashes in Australia (12 of its stories, about three times its usual).
Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 3 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 19,602 stories about harm among 103,087 counted on 3 Oct.
On the side of help, reports of volunteers ran at about one and a half times the usual rate. Stories about people being harmed made up 19 in every 100 of the day's 103,087 stories, as usual. Taiwan's news was 57% about people being harmed, against a usual 21%. For the second day running, the news turned to Taiwan. A year earlier, on 4 October 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 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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