We measure how the world's news covered people being harmed — and the help and hope within it.
21 of its 30 stories (70%) were about people being harmed, usually 13%. Dakar accounted for 20 of Senegal's 21 stories about harm, carried by 21 outlets. Reports of people affected ran at about 8 times the usual rate (5 stories). HIV was named in 15 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual.
13 of its 22 stories (59%) were about people being harmed, usually 26%. Vang Vieng accounted for 11 of Laos' 13 stories about harm, carried by 21 outlets. Reports of people killed ran at about 4 times the usual rate (11 stories). Poisoning was named in 11 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual.
82 of its 139 stories (59%) were about people being harmed, usually 47%. Jammu accounted for 25 of Kashmir's 82 stories about harm, carried by 18 outlets. Reports of people affected ran at about twice the usual rate (25 stories). Landslides were named in 31 of its stories about harm, about 4 times usual, with heavy rain.
Tel Aviv accounted for 129 of Israel's 539 stories about harm, carried by 239 outlets. 79 of Tel Aviv's 129 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of evacuations ran at about three times the usual rate (24 stories). Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's.
358 of its 728 stories (49%) were about people being harmed, usually 39%. Reports of people affected ran at about three times the usual rate (120 stories). Flooding was named in 180 of its stories about harm, about three times usual. Its coverage was about one and a half times as grief-stricken as the world's.
76 of its 136 stories (56%) were about people being harmed, usually 21%. Reports of people injured ran at about three times the usual rate (5 stories). Storms were named in 21 of its stories about harm, about 4 times usual, with drownings.
154 of its 400 stories (38%) were about people being harmed, usually 17%. Reports of people injured ran at about 5 times the usual rate (19 stories). Drought was named in 15 of its stories about harm, about 4 times usual, with road crashes.
12 of its 19 stories (63%) were about people being harmed, usually 24%. 5 of Ndjamena's 9 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of arrests ran at about 4 times the usual rate (8 stories).
216 of its 320 stories (68%) were about people being harmed, usually 57%. Gaza accounted for 172 of Palestine's 216 stories about harm, carried by 387 outlets. Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's.
Reports of people affected ran at about twice the usual rate (95 stories). Drownings were named in 12 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: flooding in Pakistan (180 of its stories, about three times its usual); illness in France (29 of its stories, about 4 times its usual); flooding in Puerto Rico (18 of its stories, about three times its usual); storms in Bahamas (21 of its stories, about 4 times its usual); illness in Russia (23 of its stories, about 4 times its usual).
Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 18 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 14,874 stories about harm among 78,968 counted on 18 Aug.
Senegal stood out: 70% of its news was about people being harmed, usually 13%. 19 in every 100 of the day's 78,968 news stories were about people being harmed, as usual. People falling ill were reported at about three times the usual rate, most often about the US and Canada. Pakistan's news mentioned flooding about three times as often as usual. On 18 August 2024, a year earlier, the share was 20 in every 100, 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 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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