We measure how the world's news covered people being harmed — and the help and hope within it.
342 of its 993 stories (34%) were about people being harmed, usually 16%. Hiroshima accounted for 243 of Japan's 342 stories about harm, carried by 497 outlets. Reports of people killed ran at about 5 times the usual rate (202 stories). Hunger was named in 14 of its stories about harm, about 6 times usual, with poisoning. Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's.
183 of its 618 stories (30%) were about people being harmed, usually 16%. Reports of people killed ran at about 6 times the usual rate (114 stories). Helicopter crash was named in 101 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual. Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's.
22 of its 40 stories (55%) were about people being harmed, usually 28%. Batumi accounted for 13 of Georgia's 22 stories about harm, carried by 24 outlets. 12 of Batumi's 13 stories were about protests or strikes.
28 of its 129 stories (22%) were about people being harmed, usually 13%. Reports of people injured ran at about 5 times the usual rate (5 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as grief-stricken as the world's.
148 of its 612 stories (24%) were about people being harmed, usually 14%. Reports of people injured ran at about 9 times the usual rate (53 stories). Drought was named in 18 of its stories about harm, about 7 times usual, with power cuts.
316 of its 1,572 stories (20%) were about people being harmed, usually 13%. Reports of arrests ran at about twice the usual rate (32 stories). Chikungunya was named in 104 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual, with outbreaks and dengue.
68 of its 160 stories (42%) were about people being harmed, usually 35%. Tehran accounted for 31 of Iran's 68 stories about harm, carried by 30 outlets. Its coverage was about one and a half times as grief-stricken as the world's.
Beirut accounted for 29 of Lebanon's 54 stories about harm, carried by 33 outlets. Reports of arrests ran at about twice the usual rate (7 stories). Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's.
Reports of abductions ran at about 4 times the usual rate (5 stories). Earthquake was named in 11 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual. Fear in its coverage rose to about one and a half times its own usual.
Reports of refugees ran at about 7 times the usual rate (12 stories). Polio was named in 18 of its stories about harm, about 5 times usual. Its coverage was about one and a half times as fearful as the world's.
Also named far more than usual: chikungunya in China (104 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); flooding in India (231 of its stories, about 5 times its usual); hiv in Lesotho (11 of its stories, about 5 times its usual); heatwave in Spain (18 of its stories, about three times its usual); drought in France (18 of its stories, about 7 times its usual).
Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 6 Aug. 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 17,232 stories about harm among 92,464 counted on 6 Aug.
Ghana's news mentioned helicopter crash more than ten times as often as usual. 19 in every 100 of the day's 92,464 news stories were about people being harmed, as usual. People falling ill were reported at about twice the usual rate, most often about the US and Canada. the news turned to Japan for the second day running. Japan's news was 34% about people being harmed, against a usual 16%.
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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