We measure how the world's news covered people being harmed — and the help and hope within it.
64 of its 115 stories (56%) were about people being harmed, usually 42%. Kabul accounted for 33 of Afghanistan's 64 stories about harm, carried by 105 outlets. Reports of evacuations ran at about 6 times the usual rate (5 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as grief-stricken as the world's.
18 of its 25 stories (72%) were about people being harmed, usually 24%. Cabinda accounted for 10 of Angola's 18 stories about harm, carried by 9 outlets. Reports of people injured ran at about 8 times the usual rate (12 stories).
30 of its 72 stories (42%) were about people being harmed, usually 25%. 10 of Dar es Salaam's 12 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of arrests ran at about twice the usual rate (9 stories).
Colombo accounted for 26 of Sri Lanka's 40 stories about harm, carried by 19 outlets. Reports of arrests ran at about three times the usual rate (20 stories). Illness was named in 10 of its stories about harm, about three times usual.
441 of its 989 stories (45%) were about people being harmed, usually 30%. Reports of refugees ran at about twice the usual rate (80 stories). Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's.
Beirut accounted for 15 of Lebanon's 35 stories about harm, carried by 15 outlets. Reports of refugees ran at about 4 times the usual rate (11 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as angry as the world's.
16 of its 26 stories (62%) were about people being harmed, usually 19%. Reports of people killed ran at about twice the usual rate (8 stories).
16 of its 51 stories (31%) were about people being harmed, usually 14%. Reports of people killed ran at about three times the usual rate (6 stories).
52 of its 198 stories (26%) were about people being harmed, usually 17%. Reports of people injured ran at about three times the usual rate (5 stories).
17 of its 24 stories (71%) were about people being harmed, usually 52%. Its coverage was about one and a half times as angry as the world's.
Also named far more than usual: drought in Brazil (14 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); storms in Australia (28 of its stories, about 4 times its usual); storms in India (49 of its stories, about 4 times its usual); hunger in Nigeria (13 of its stories, about three times its usual); tornadoes in UK (37 of its stories, more than ten times its usual).
Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 21 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 17,927 stories about harm among 98,264 counted on 21 May.
Mentions of the drought ran more than ten times their usual in Brazil's news. of the day's 98,264 news stories, 18 in every 100 were about people being harmed, as usual. Afghanistan stood out: 56% of its news was about people being harmed, usually 42%. On 21 May 2024, a year earlier, the share was 18 in every 100, the same as 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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