We measure how the world's news covered people being harmed — and the help and hope within it.
2,277 of its 2,770 stories (82%) were about people being harmed, usually 49%. Jakarta accounted for 2,137 of Indonesia's 2,277 stories about harm, carried by 1,184 outlets. Reports of abductions ran at about 4 times the usual rate (63 stories). Its coverage was about twice as fearful as the world's. Anger in its coverage rose to about one and a half times its own usual.
634 of its 747 stories (85%) were about people being harmed, usually 41%. Reports of people killed ran at about 5 times the usual rate (524 stories). Its coverage was about three times as grief-stricken as the world's.
242 of its 423 stories (57%) were about people being harmed, usually 18%. Reports of abductions ran at more than ten times the usual rate (25 stories). Flooding was named in 73 of its stories about harm, about three times usual, with landslides and storm surge.
261 of its 274 stories (95%) were about people being harmed, usually 67%. Bujumbura accounted for 200 of Burundi's 261 stories about harm, carried by 200 outlets. Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's. Fear in its coverage rose to about three times its own usual.
530 of its 577 stories (92%) were about people being harmed, usually 62%. Mogadishu accounted for 347 of Somalia's 530 stories about harm, carried by 276 outlets. Reports of people killed ran at about twice the usual rate (318 stories). Its coverage was about three times as angry as the world's.
268 of its 317 stories (85%) were about people being harmed, usually 30%. Ouagadougou accounted for 232 of Burkina Faso's 268 stories about harm, carried by 236 outlets. Reports of people injured ran at more than ten times the usual rate (73 stories).
208 of its 584 stories (36%) were about people being harmed, usually 14%. Reports of refugees ran at about 6 times the usual rate (82 stories). Ebola was named in 13 of its stories about harm, about 5 times usual, with measles, norovirus and tuberculosis.
224 of its 490 stories (46%) were about people being harmed, usually 26%. Reports of people killed ran at about 6 times the usual rate (136 stories). Drownings were named in 63 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual.
139 of its 447 stories (31%) were about people being harmed, usually 18%. Reports of arrests ran at about twice the usual rate (19 stories). Its coverage was about twice as fearful as the world's.
89 of its 115 stories (77%) were about people being harmed, usually 64%. Reports of people injured ran at more than ten times the usual rate (61 stories). Its coverage was about three times as angry as the world's.
Also named far more than usual: natural hazards in Guatemala (54 of its stories, about 4 times its usual); drownings in Denmark (63 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); hurricane in Greenland (11 of its stories, about 6 times its usual); flooding in Ethiopia (18 of its stories, about 5 times its usual); avalanche in Romania (10 of its stories, more than ten times its usual).
Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 15 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 46,908 stories about harm among 235,969 counted on 15 Jan.
Help and hope: reports of vaccination ran at about one and a half times the usual rate. of the day's 235,969 news stories, 20 in every 100 were about people being harmed, below the usual 21. Reports of people falling ill ran at about three times the usual rate, most often about the US and the Philippines. It was the second day running that the news turned to Indonesia. In Portugal's news, mentions of flooding ran about three times their 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?
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