We measure how the world's news covered people being harmed — and the help and hope within it.
325 of its 559 stories (58%) were about people being harmed, usually 48%. Tehran accounted for 172 of Iran's 325 stories about harm, carried by 114 outlets. 90 of Tehran's 172 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of people affected ran at about three times the usual rate (40 stories). Avalanche was named in 20 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual.
1,273 of its 1,601 stories (80%) were about people being harmed, usually 71%. Ghouta accounted for 998 of Syria's 1,273 stories about harm, carried by 892 outlets. Reports of evacuations ran at about 5 times the usual rate (156 stories). Hunger was named in 119 of its stories about harm, about 4 times usual, with earthquake. Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's.
232 of its 383 stories (61%) were about people being harmed, usually 29%. Camana accounted for 162 of Peru's 232 stories about harm, carried by 308 outlets. Reports of people injured ran at more than ten times the usual rate (194 stories). Its coverage was about 4 times as grief-stricken as the world's.
552 of its 1,873 stories (29%) were about people being harmed, usually 24%. Reports of refugees ran at more than ten times the usual rate (100 stories). Storm surge was named in 15 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual. Its coverage was about twice as fearful as the world's.
258 of its 410 stories (63%) were about people being harmed, usually 19%. Manama accounted for 179 of Bahrain's 258 stories about harm, carried by 225 outlets. 172 of Manama's 179 stories were about protests or strikes. Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's.
116 of its 149 stories (78%) were about people being harmed, usually 55%. Mogadishu accounted for 82 of Somalia's 116 stories about harm, carried by 72 outlets. Reports of people killed ran at about twice the usual rate (81 stories). Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's. Grief in its coverage rose to about twice its own usual.
163 of its 350 stories (47%) were about people being harmed, usually 23%. Reports of people injured ran at more than ten times the usual rate (120 stories). Fear in its coverage rose to about one and a half times its own usual.
21,660 of its 76,621 stories (28%) were about people being harmed, usually 21%. Reports of evacuations ran at about twice the usual rate (198 stories). Storms were named in 752 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual, with tornadoes and avalanche.
559 of its 1,415 stories (40%) were about people being harmed, usually 33%. Reports of arrests ran at about twice the usual rate (103 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as angry as the world's.
Reports of refugees ran at about 5 times the usual rate (20 stories). Poisoning was named in 18 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual. Its coverage was about one and a half times as angry as the world's.
Also named far more than usual: extreme cold in Morocco (68 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); earthquake in Nepal (30 of its stories, about 4 times its usual); overdoses in Ghana (44 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); poisoning in Yemen (18 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); diphtheria in Bangladesh (20 of its stories, about 6 times its usual).
Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 21 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 50,665 stories about harm among 223,076 counted on 21 Feb.
Mentions of extreme cold ran more than ten times their usual in Morocco's news. For the second day running, the news turned to Iran. Iran stood out: 58% of its news was about people being harmed, usually 48%. 23 in every 100 of the day's 223,076 news stories were about people being harmed, above the usual 21.
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 softer 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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