We measure how the world's news covered people being harmed — and the help and hope within it.
86 of its 92 stories (93%) were about people being harmed, usually 15%. Sofala accounted for 75 of Mozambique's 86 stories about harm, carried by 84 outlets. Reports of people killed ran at more than ten times the usual rate (85 stories). Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's.
105 of its 393 stories (27%) were about people being harmed, usually 18%. 76 of Sao Paulo's 78 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of people injured ran at more than ten times the usual rate (42 stories). Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's.
429 of its 790 stories (54%) were about people being harmed, usually 32%. Reports of people killed ran at about twice the usual rate (146 stories). Flooding was named in 55 of its stories about harm, about 5 times usual, with earthquake.
42 of its 124 stories (34%) were about people being harmed, usually 19%. Reports of people killed ran at about three times the usual rate (34 stories). Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's. Anger in its coverage rose to about twice its own usual.
750 of its 927 stories (81%) were about people being harmed, usually 51%. Cairo accounted for 405 of Egypt's 750 stories about harm, carried by 353 outlets. Reports of people injured ran at about three times the usual rate (308 stories). Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's.
874 of its 1,028 stories (85%) were about people being harmed, usually 67%. Damascus accounted for 562 of Syria's 874 stories about harm, carried by 515 outlets. Reports of arrests ran at about three times the usual rate (72 stories). Its coverage was about twice as fearful as the world's.
418 of its 698 stories (60%) were about people being harmed, usually 34%. Seoul accounted for 363 of South Korea's 418 stories about harm, carried by 298 outlets. Cholera was named in 10 of its stories about harm, about 8 times usual.
394 of its 605 stories (65%) were about people being harmed, usually 41%. Pyongyang accounted for 375 of North Korea's 394 stories about harm, carried by 349 outlets. Reports of refugees ran at about three times the usual rate (9 stories).
81 of its 147 stories (55%) were about people being harmed, usually 28%. Reports of arrests ran at about 9 times the usual rate (71 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as fearful as the world's.
183 of its 354 stories (52%) were about people being harmed, usually 29%. Reports of abductions ran at about 5 times the usual rate (17 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as angry as the world's.
Also named far more than usual: house fires in Russia (64 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); extreme cold in Nepal (29 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); cholera in Kenya (25 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); accidents in Somalia (22 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); malaria in Cambodia (15 of its stories, about 4 times its usual).
Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 9 Jan. 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 31,360 stories about harm among 135,610 counted on 9 Jan.
Mozambique's news was 93% about people being harmed, against a usual 15%. of the day's 135,610 news stories, 23 in every 100 were about people being harmed, as usual. Russia's news mentioned house fires more than ten times as often as usual.
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.
From the words reporters used across the whole day, never one story. Fear is the weakest of the four measures. How?
Unlock a year of trends, free. Follow up to 5 countries, with a bell when their news changes, and 👍 vote for Pro — ten years of the archive, any period, daily alerts.
Create a free accountSign in · a username, an email and a password.