We measure how the world's news covered people being harmed — and the help and hope within it.
559 of its 587 stories (95%) were about people being harmed, usually 33%. Rasuwa accounted for 256 of Nepal's 559 stories about harm, carried by 358 outlets. Reports of people affected ran at more than ten times the usual rate (416 stories). Flooding was named in 461 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual, with avalanche, storms and heatwave.
41 of its 56 stories (73%) were about people being harmed, usually 45%. Kenscoff accounted for 37 of Haiti's 41 stories about harm, carried by 120 outlets. Reports of abductions ran at about 10 times the usual rate (27 stories). Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's.
37 of its 62 stories (60%) were about people being harmed, usually 45%. Kabul accounted for 25 of Afghanistan's 37 stories about harm, carried by 25 outlets. Its coverage was about one and a half times as fearful as the world's.
60 of its 254 stories (24%) were about people being harmed, usually 14%. Reports of people affected ran at about 5 times the usual rate (28 stories).
261 of its 466 stories (56%) were about people being harmed, usually 36%. Islamabad accounted for 185 of Pakistan's 261 stories about harm, carried by 400 outlets. Reports of evacuations ran at more than ten times the usual rate (6 stories). Its coverage was about three times as grief-stricken as the world's.
15 of its 37 stories (41%) were about people being harmed, usually 21%. Reports of people affected ran at about 4 times the usual rate (7 stories). Drought was named in 10 of its stories about harm, about 5 times usual. Its coverage was about one and a half times as fearful as the world's.
Reports of people affected ran at about three times the usual rate (94 stories). Landslides were named in 60 of its stories about harm, about 5 times usual. Grief in its coverage rose to about one and a half times its own usual.
25 of its 79 stories (32%) were about people being harmed, usually 12%. Reports of arrests ran at about 4 times the usual rate (13 stories).
18 of its 64 stories (28%) were about people being harmed, usually 12%. Reports of people killed ran at about 4 times the usual rate (10 stories).
House fires were named in 47 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual. Its coverage was about one and a half times as fearful as the world's.
Also named far more than usual: landslides in China (60 of its stories, about 5 times its usual); wildfires in Indonesia (17 of its stories, about 4 times its usual); drought in Panama (10 of its stories, about 5 times its usual); outbreaks in Germany (15 of its stories, about 9 times its usual); flu in New Zealand (12 of its stories, about three times its usual).
Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 26 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 14,107 stories about harm among 71,603 counted on 26 Aug.
Nepal's news was 95% about people being harmed, against a usual 33%. of the day's 71,603 news stories, 20 in every 100 were about people being harmed, as usual. Reports of vaccination, a sign of help, ran at about one and a half times the usual rate. Mentions of flooding ran more than ten times their usual in Nepal's news. For the second day running, the news turned to Nepal.
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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