We measure how the world's news covered people being harmed — and the help and hope within it.
25 of its 48 stories (52%) were about people being harmed, usually 14%. Quarry Bay accounted for 20 of Hong Kong's 25 stories about harm, carried by 151 outlets. Reports of evacuations ran at more than ten times the usual rate (7 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as grief-stricken as the world's.
11 of its 26 stories (42%) were about people being harmed, usually 12%. 5 of Budapest's 7 stories were about protests or strikes. Its coverage was about one and a half times as fearful as the world's.
19 of its 49 stories (39%) were about people being harmed, usually 23%. Reports of arrests ran at about 4 times the usual rate (10 stories).
22 of its 91 stories (24%) were about people being harmed, usually 14%. Reports of people affected ran at about three times the usual rate (5 stories).
100 of its 198 stories (51%) were about people being harmed, usually 29%. Dnipro accounted for 53 of Ukraine's 100 stories about harm, carried by 316 outlets. Reports of people injured ran at about three times the usual rate (76 stories). Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's.
24 of its 94 stories (26%) were about people being harmed, usually 14%. 10 of Malieveld's 12 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of people affected ran at about twice the usual rate (5 stories).
Kathmandu accounted for 18 of Nepal's 25 stories about harm, carried by 68 outlets. 17 of Kathmandu's 18 stories were about protests or strikes. Its coverage was about one and a half times as angry as the world's.
25 of its 29 stories (86%) were about people being harmed, usually 66%. Its coverage was about one and a half times as angry as the world's.
Reports of evacuations ran at about 5 times the usual rate (8 stories). Grief in its coverage rose to about one and a half times its own usual.
Reports of people displaced ran at about twice the usual rate (35 stories). Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's.
Also named far more than usual: flooding in Malaysia (16 of its stories, about three times its usual); storms in New Zealand (14 of its stories, about 10 times its usual); typhoon in Philippines (14 of its stories, about three times its usual); plane crash in US (47 of its stories, about 6 times its usual).
Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 20 Sep. 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 8,940 stories about harm among 48,476 counted on 20 Sep.
Hong Kong stood out: 52% of its news was about people being harmed, usually 14%. 18 in every 100 of the day's 48,476 news stories were about people being harmed, as usual. A year earlier, on 20 September 2024, 18 in every 100 stories were about people being harmed, 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 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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