We measure how the world's news covered people being harmed — and the help and hope within it.
889 of its 958 stories (93%) were about people being harmed, usually 50%. Guatemala City accounted for 500 of Guatemala's 889 stories about harm, carried by 424 outlets. 347 of Guatemala City's 500 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of people injured ran at about 7 times the usual rate (568 stories). Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's. Fear in its coverage rose to about twice its own usual.
195 of its 477 stories (41%) were about people being harmed, usually 26%. Brussels accounted for 172 of Belgium's 195 stories about harm, carried by 140 outlets. Reports of people killed ran at about twice the usual rate (122 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as fearful as the world's. Anger in its coverage rose to about one and a half times its own usual.
212 of its 249 stories (85%) were about people being harmed, usually 42%. Antananarivo accounted for 183 of Madagascar's 212 stories about harm, carried by 198 outlets. Reports of refugees ran at more than ten times the usual rate (21 stories).
146 of its 251 stories (58%) were about people being harmed, usually 29%. Reports of people injured ran at about 4 times the usual rate (66 stories). Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's.
125 of its 267 stories (47%) were about people being harmed, usually 35%. 58 of Banjul's 72 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of arrests ran at about twice the usual rate (63 stories). Its coverage was about three times as grief-stricken as the world's.
144 of its 324 stories (44%) were about people being harmed, usually 21%. Reports of people killed ran at about 7 times the usual rate (90 stories). Its coverage was about three times as grief-stricken as the world's.
1,161 of its 3,464 stories (34%) were about people being harmed, usually 24%. Reports of arrests ran at about 4 times the usual rate (300 stories). Train derailment was named in 52 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual.
48 of its 57 stories (84%) were about people being harmed, usually 68%. Sarajevo accounted for 41 of Bosnia's 48 stories about harm, carried by 40 outlets. Its coverage was about three times as grief-stricken as the world's.
442 of its 2,077 stories (21%) were about people being harmed, usually 13%. Tsunami was named in 207 of its stories about harm, about three times usual. Its coverage was about one and a half times as fearful as the world's.
41 of its 157 stories (26%) were about people being harmed, usually 17%. Reports of arrests ran at about twice the usual rate (10 stories). Its coverage was about twice as fearful as the world's.
Also named far more than usual: tsunami in Japan (207 of its stories, about three times its usual); flu in Brazil (39 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); dengue in Burkina Faso (10 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); measles in Romania (12 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); heavy rain in New Zealand (60 of its stories, about 7 times its usual).
Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 9 Mar. 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 58,534 stories about harm among 285,346 counted on 9 Mar.
The news turned to Guatemala for the second day running. 21 in every 100 of the day's 285,346 news stories were about people being harmed, below the usual 22. In Japan's news, mentions of the tsunami ran about three times their usual. Guatemala stood out: 93% of its news was about people being harmed, usually 50%. On 9 March 2016, a year earlier, the share was 19 in every 100, against 21 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 about as 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?
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.