We measure how the world's news covered people being harmed — and the help and hope within it.
91 of its 104 stories (88%) were about people being harmed, usually 28%. Orsha accounted for 76 of Belarus' 91 stories about harm, carried by 92 outlets. 76 of Orsha's 76 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of arrests ran at more than ten times the usual rate (83 stories). Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's.
610 of its 729 stories (84%) were about people being harmed, usually 35%. Reports of people injured ran at more than ten times the usual rate (84 stories). Tornadoes were named in 32 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual. Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's. Grief in its coverage rose to about three times its own usual.
294 of its 435 stories (68%) were about people being harmed, usually 25%. Amman accounted for 223 of Jordan's 294 stories about harm, carried by 195 outlets. Reports of people injured ran at more than ten times the usual rate (173 stories). Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's.
374 of its 401 stories (93%) were about people being harmed, usually 52%. Gonaives accounted for 323 of Haiti's 374 stories about harm, carried by 504 outlets. Reports of people injured ran at more than ten times the usual rate (220 stories). Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's. Anger in its coverage rose to about twice its own usual.
122 of its 136 stories (90%) were about people being harmed, usually 65%. Tunis accounted for 118 of Tunisia's 122 stories about harm, carried by 107 outlets. Reports of people injured ran at about three times the usual rate (19 stories). Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's.
1,585 of its 2,719 stories (58%) were about people being harmed, usually 45%. 742 of Istanbul's 799 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of people injured ran at about 4 times the usual rate (523 stories). Plague was named in 10 of its stories about harm, about 4 times usual.
861 of its 1,076 stories (80%) were about people being harmed, usually 71%. Damascus accounted for 617 of Syria's 861 stories about harm, carried by 529 outlets. Reports of people injured ran at about 5 times the usual rate (506 stories). Its coverage was about three times as grief-stricken as the world's.
127 of its 160 stories (79%) were about people being harmed, usually 15%. Bucharest accounted for 98 of Romania's 127 stories about harm, carried by 112 outlets. 96 of Bucharest's 98 stories were about protests or strikes.
88 of its 106 stories (83%) were about people being harmed, usually 21%. 59 of Tbilisi's 61 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of people injured ran at more than ten times the usual rate (78 stories).
94 of its 97 stories (97%) were about people being harmed, usually 58%. Reports of people injured ran at about 5 times the usual rate (82 stories). Natural hazards were named in 11 of its stories about harm, about 4 times usual.
Also named far more than usual: drought in Niger (35 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); flooding in New Zealand (107 of its stories, about 9 times its usual); drought in South Africa (134 of its stories, about 8 times its usual); flooding in Israel (90 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); plague in Guatemala (67 of its stories, more than ten times its usual).
Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 12 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 29,414 stories about harm among 131,953 counted on 12 Mar.
Belarus stood out: 88% of its news was about people being harmed, usually 28%. 22 in every 100 of the day's 131,953 news stories were about people being harmed, as usual. On the side of help, reports of peace efforts ran at about one and a half times the usual rate. Niger's news mentioned the drought more than ten times as often as usual. A year earlier, on 12 March 2016, 22 in every 100 stories were about people being harmed, the same as today. This week the news turned most often to Guatemala, on 3 of 7 days; help rose on 3 of them.
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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