We measure how the world's news covered people being harmed — and the help and hope within it.
91 of its 278 stories (33%) were about people being harmed, usually 17%. Geneva accounted for 59 of Switzerland's 91 stories about harm, carried by 86 outlets. Covid was named in 43 of its stories about harm, about 7 times usual. Its coverage was about one and a half times as warm as the world's.
65 of its 155 stories (42%) were about people being harmed, usually 28%. Colombo accounted for 35 of Sri Lanka's 65 stories about harm, carried by 30 outlets. Reports of arrests ran at about three times the usual rate (20 stories). Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's.
20 of its 29 stories (69%) were about people being harmed, usually 45%. Tripoli accounted for 15 of Libya's 20 stories about harm, carried by 16 outlets. Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's.
118 of its 375 stories (31%) were about people being harmed, usually 23%. Reports of people killed ran at about three times the usual rate (74 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as grief-stricken as the world's.
Reports of evacuations ran at about 8 times the usual rate (7 stories). Road crashes were named in 12 of its stories about harm, about 10 times usual. Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's.
3 of Mopti's 4 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of arrests ran at about twice the usual rate (8 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as grief-stricken as the world's.
Reports of refugees ran at about 4 times the usual rate (13 stories). Covid was named in 100 of its stories about harm, about 4 times usual, with flu. Its coverage was about one and a half times as fearful as the world's.
Reports of arrests ran at about twice the usual rate (47 stories). Heatwave was named in 17 of its stories about harm, about 5 times usual. Its coverage was about twice as fearful as the world's.
36 of its 62 stories (58%) were about people being harmed, usually 23%. 16 of Dar es Salaam's 18 stories were about protests or strikes.
17 of its 30 stories (57%) were about people being harmed, usually 30%. Reports of abductions ran at more than ten times the usual rate (15 stories).
Also named far more than usual: flu in Brazil (20 of its stories, about 6 times its usual); natural hazards in Venezuela (16 of its stories, about 6 times its usual); covid in India (100 of its stories, about 4 times its usual); road crashes in France (12 of its stories, about 10 times its usual); heatwave in Pakistan (17 of its stories, about 5 times its usual).
Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 20 May. 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 18,258 stories about harm among 98,525 counted on 20 May.
Switzerland's news mentioned Covid about 7 times as often as usual. 19 in every 100 of the day's 98,525 news stories were about people being harmed, as usual. In Switzerland, 33% of the news was about people being harmed, where 17% is usual. A year earlier, on 20 May 2024, 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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