We measure how the world's news covered people being harmed — and the help and hope within it.
647 of its 902 stories (72%) were about people being harmed, usually 37%. Harare accounted for 494 of Zimbabwe's 647 stories about harm, carried by 397 outlets. 457 of Harare's 494 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of arrests ran at about 4 times the usual rate (400 stories). Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's.
629 of its 735 stories (86%) were about people being harmed, usually 35%. Bogota accounted for 553 of Colombia's 629 stories about harm, carried by 489 outlets. Reports of people injured ran at about 7 times the usual rate (569 stories). Its coverage was about three times as fearful as the world's.
516 of its 972 stories (53%) were about people being harmed, usually 37%. Reports of people affected ran at about 4 times the usual rate (138 stories). Outbreaks were named in 91 of its stories about harm, about 4 times usual.
189 of its 342 stories (55%) were about people being harmed, usually 39%. Reports of people affected ran at about 8 times the usual rate (72 stories). Landslides were named in 15 of its stories about harm, about 6 times usual.
506 of its 627 stories (81%) were about people being harmed, usually 57%. Manbij accounted for 266 of Syria's 506 stories about harm, carried by 263 outlets. Reports of people killed ran at about 4 times the usual rate (396 stories). Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's.
487 of its 770 stories (63%) were about people being harmed, usually 44%. Nairobi accounted for 399 of Kenya's 487 stories about harm, carried by 349 outlets. Reports of arrests ran at about 7 times the usual rate (208 stories). Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's.
88 of its 94 stories (94%) were about people being harmed, usually 67%. Managua accounted for 53 of Nicaragua's 88 stories about harm, carried by 53 outlets. 53 of Managua's 53 stories were about protests or strikes. Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's.
60 of its 146 stories (41%) were about people being harmed, usually 17%. Reports of arrests ran at more than ten times the usual rate (53 stories). Its coverage was about three times as fearful as the world's.
84 of its 421 stories (20%) were about people being harmed, usually 10%. Reports of people affected ran at about twice the usual rate (20 stories). Natural hazards were named in 32 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual.
366 of its 1,170 stories (31%) were about people being harmed, usually 24%. Flooding was named in 80 of its stories about harm, about 8 times usual. Warmth in its coverage rose to about one and a half times its own usual.
Also named far more than usual: natural hazards in South Korea (32 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); flooding in Mexico (80 of its stories, about 8 times its usual); dengue in Jamaica (15 of its stories, about three times its usual); road crashes in UK (294 of its stories, about 9 times its usual); ebola in Switzerland (22 of its stories, about 5 times its usual).
Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 18 Jan. 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 33,476 stories about harm among 182,828 counted on 18 Jan.
For the fourth day running, the news turned to Zimbabwe. Stories about people being harmed made up 18 in every 100 of the day's 182,828 stories, as usual. Zimbabwe's news was 72% about people being harmed, against a usual 37%. A year earlier, on 18 January 2018, 22 in every 100 stories were about people being harmed, against 18 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 much 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.