We measure how the world's news covered people being harmed — and the help and hope within it.
127 of its 185 stories (69%) were about people being harmed, usually 22%. Reykjavik accounted for 97 of Iceland's 127 stories about harm, carried by 104 outlets. HIV was named in 118 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual. Its coverage was about one and a half times as warm as the world's. Anger in its coverage rose to about twice its own usual.
84 of its 278 stories (30%) were about people being harmed, usually 15%. Reports of people injured ran at more than ten times the usual rate (44 stories). Avalanche was named in 46 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual. Its coverage was about one and a half times as grief-stricken as the world's.
337 of its 585 stories (58%) were about people being harmed, usually 44%. Reports of abductions ran at about 9 times the usual rate (37 stories). Cyclone was named in 38 of its stories about harm, about 4 times usual. Its coverage was about twice as fearful as the world's.
26 of its 65 stories (40%) were about people being harmed, usually 14%. Reports of people injured ran at more than ten times the usual rate (10 stories). Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's. Anger in its coverage rose to about one and a half times its own usual.
1,455 of its 1,674 stories (87%) were about people being harmed, usually 74%. Ghouta accounted for 1,240 of Syria's 1,455 stories about harm, carried by 730 outlets. Its coverage was about twice as fearful as the world's.
245 of its 366 stories (67%) were about people being harmed, usually 53%. Baghdad accounted for 159 of Iraq's 245 stories about harm, carried by 178 outlets. Reports of arrests ran at about 5 times the usual rate (67 stories).
150 of its 189 stories (79%) were about people being harmed, usually 65%. Mogadishu accounted for 134 of Somalia's 150 stories about harm, carried by 86 outlets. Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's. Fear in its coverage rose to about one and a half times its own usual.
19 of its 31 stories (61%) were about people being harmed, usually 35%. 13 of Freetown's 14 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of people killed ran at about twice the usual rate (14 stories).
113 of its 355 stories (32%) were about people being harmed, usually 23%. Reports of people affected ran at about 4 times the usual rate (97 stories). Its coverage was about twice as fearful as the world's.
95 of its 112 stories (85%) were about people being harmed, usually 74%. Reports of evacuations ran at more than ten times the usual rate (23 stories). Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's.
Also named far more than usual: landslides in Papua New Guinea (32 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); road crashes in Brazil (18 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); outbreaks in Germany (19 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); tornadoes in US (887 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); flu in Russia (19 of its stories, more than ten times its usual).
Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 25 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 25,419 stories about harm among 111,876 counted on 25 Feb.
In Iceland, 69% of the news was about people being harmed, where 22% is usual. Stories about people being harmed made up 23 in every 100 of the day's 111,876 stories, above the usual 21. Help and hope: reports of volunteers ran at about twice the usual rate. Evacuations were reported at about three times the usual rate, most often about the US and South Korea. Iceland's news mentioned HIV more than ten times as often as usual. This week the news turned most often to Syria, on 3 of 7 days; help rose on 2 of them.
Written by code from the day's numbers.
Countries with at least 50 stories that day.
Stories, not people.
Each country in the colour of the feeling its news carried most, against the world's news that day. Stronger colour: further above the world. Click a country.
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?
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.