We measure how the world's news covered people being harmed — and the help and hope within it.
695 of its 992 stories (70%) were about people being harmed, usually 46%. Tehran accounted for 463 of Iran's 695 stories about harm, carried by 365 outlets. 268 of Tehran's 463 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of people injured ran at about 7 times the usual rate (151 stories). Avalanche was named in 10 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual.
170 of its 220 stories (77%) were about people being harmed, usually 38%. Maputo accounted for 159 of Mozambique's 170 stories about harm, carried by 255 outlets. Reports of people killed ran at about twice the usual rate (149 stories). Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's.
1,793 of its 2,154 stories (83%) were about people being harmed, usually 70%. Ghouta accounted for 1,240 of Syria's 1,793 stories about harm, carried by 869 outlets. Reports of people injured ran at about three times the usual rate (1,011 stories). Its coverage was about three times as angry as the world's.
109 of its 146 stories (75%) were about people being harmed, usually 14%. Zagreb accounted for 96 of Croatia's 109 stories about harm, carried by 114 outlets. Its coverage was about one and a half times as fearful as the world's.
216 of its 387 stories (56%) were about people being harmed, usually 33%. Reports of abductions ran at more than ten times the usual rate (111 stories). Its coverage was about three times as grief-stricken as the world's.
42 of its 103 stories (41%) were about people being harmed, usually 19%. Reports of people affected ran at about twice the usual rate (5 stories). HIV was named in 13 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual.
362 of its 866 stories (42%) were about people being harmed, usually 27%. Bangkok accounted for 311 of Thailand's 362 stories about harm, carried by 271 outlets. Reports of people displaced ran at more than ten times the usual rate (16 stories).
598 of its 1,688 stories (35%) were about people being harmed, usually 23%. Reports of evacuations ran at about twice the usual rate (28 stories). Cyclone was named in 373 of its stories about harm, about 5 times usual, with heavy rain, flooding and storms.
348 of its 670 stories (52%) were about people being harmed, usually 42%. Reports of people displaced ran at about twice the usual rate (6 stories). Volcanic eruption was named in 230 of its stories about harm, about 7 times usual, with avalanche.
43 of its 120 stories (36%) were about people being harmed, usually 23%. Reports of people affected ran at about three times the usual rate (14 stories). Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's.
Also named far more than usual: volcanic eruption in Indonesia (230 of its stories, about 7 times its usual); cyclone in New Zealand (373 of its stories, about 5 times its usual); drought in Mexico (87 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); dengue in Fiji (14 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); road crashes in Sweden (22 of its stories, more than ten times its usual).
Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 20 Feb. 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 46,380 stories about harm among 219,437 counted on 20 Feb.
Stories about people being harmed made up 21 in every 100 of the day's 219,437 stories, as usual. A year earlier, on 20 February 2017, 21 in every 100 stories were about people being harmed, the same as 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.