We measure how the world's news covered people being harmed — and the help and hope within it.
22 of its 33 stories (67%) were about people being harmed, usually 37%. Maputo accounted for 20 of Mozambique's 22 stories about harm, carried by 57 outlets. 11 of Maputo's 20 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of people killed ran at about three times the usual rate (15 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as grief-stricken as the world's.
776 of its 1,058 stories (73%) were about people being harmed, usually 68%. Reports of refugees ran at about twice the usual rate (62 stories). Wildfires were named in 14 of its stories about harm, about 7 times usual. Its coverage was about three times as grief-stricken as the world's.
160 of its 230 stories (70%) were about people being harmed, usually 33%. Havana accounted for 63 of Cuba's 160 stories about harm, carried by 367 outlets. Reports of people injured ran at about 4 times the usual rate (9 stories).
61 of its 91 stories (67%) were about people being harmed, usually 28%. Belize City accounted for 41 of Belize's 61 stories about harm, carried by 53 outlets. Tropical storm was named in 57 of its stories about harm, about 4 times usual, with cyclone, heavy rain and storm surge.
29 of its 52 stories (56%) were about people being harmed, usually 35%. 13 of Baghdad's 21 stories were about protests or strikes. Its coverage was about one and a half times as fearful as the world's.
23 of its 81 stories (28%) were about people being harmed, usually 20%. Reports of people injured ran at about 10 times the usual rate (9 stories). Train derailment was named in 11 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual.
53 of its 225 stories (24%) were about people being harmed, usually 17%. Reports of refugees ran at about 7 times the usual rate (10 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as fearful as the world's.
96 of its 448 stories (21%) were about people being harmed, usually 12%. Reports of arrests ran at about 4 times the usual rate (11 stories).
31 of its 114 stories (27%) were about people being harmed, usually 19%. Reports of refugees ran at about 6 times the usual rate (5 stories).
Buenos Aires accounted for 133 of Argentina's 152 stories about harm, carried by 199 outlets. Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's.
Also named far more than usual: train derailment in Sri Lanka (11 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); heavy rain in Canada (33 of its stories, about 10 times its usual); food poisoning in US (55 of its stories, about 4 times its usual).
Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 19 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 10,618 stories about harm among 57,432 counted on 19 Oct.
Reports of people freed or reunited, a sign of help, ran at about twice the usual rate. 18 in every 100 of the day's 57,432 news stories were about people being harmed, as usual. In Belize's news, mentions of tropical storm ran about 4 times their usual. Mozambique stood out: 67% of its news was about people being harmed, usually 37%. A year earlier, on 20 October 2023, 20 in every 100 stories were about people being harmed, against 18 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 harsher 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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