We measure how the world's news covered people being harmed — and the help and hope within it.
526 of its 598 stories (88%) were about people being harmed, usually 23%. Havana accounted for 517 of Cuba's 526 stories about harm, carried by 559 outlets. Reports of people injured ran at more than ten times the usual rate (499 stories). Tornadoes were named in 515 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual, with flooding and power cuts. Fear in its coverage rose to about one and a half times its own usual.
145 of its 264 stories (55%) were about people being harmed, usually 26%. Kathmandu accounted for 132 of Nepal's 145 stories about harm, carried by 162 outlets. Reports of people injured ran at more than ten times the usual rate (63 stories). Its coverage was about twice as fearful as the world's.
71 of its 78 stories (91%) were about people being harmed, usually 74%. Sikire accounted for 59 of Burkina Faso's 71 stories about harm, carried by 55 outlets. Reports of people injured ran at about 6 times the usual rate (64 stories). Its coverage was about three times as angry as the world's.
103 of its 237 stories (43%) were about people being harmed, usually 36%. 48 of Birkenau's 49 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of people killed ran at about twice the usual rate (76 stories). Its coverage was about 4 times as grief-stricken as the world's.
1,027 of its 1,395 stories (74%) were about people being harmed, usually 33%. Brumadinho accounted for 596 of Brazil's 1,027 stories about harm, carried by 414 outlets. Reports of people affected ran at about 4 times the usual rate (856 stories). Drownings were named in 152 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual, with avalanche and landslides. Its coverage was about twice as fearful as the world's.
71 of its 130 stories (55%) were about people being harmed, usually 24%. Reports of people injured ran at more than ten times the usual rate (46 stories). Landslides were named in 31 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual. Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's.
697 of its 1,192 stories (58%) were about people being harmed, usually 34%. Reports of people injured ran at about 4 times the usual rate (448 stories). Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's.
19 of its 34 stories (56%) were about people being harmed, usually 12%. Reports of people affected ran at more than ten times the usual rate (17 stories). Anger in its coverage rose to about one and a half times its own usual.
124 of its 386 stories (32%) were about people being harmed, usually 15%. Reports of evacuations ran at more than ten times the usual rate (44 stories). Gas explosion was named in 63 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual.
43 of its 88 stories (49%) were about people being harmed, usually 28%. 14 of Douala's 21 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of arrests ran at about 5 times the usual rate (18 stories).
Also named far more than usual: flu in Denmark (85 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); gas explosion in Netherlands (63 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); earthquake in Japan (75 of its stories, about 4 times its usual); flooding in Singapore (44 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); food poisoning in Belgium (28 of its stories, more than ten times its usual).
Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 28 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 34,020 stories about harm among 174,232 counted on 28 Jan.
Cuba stood out: 88% of its news was about people being harmed, usually 23%. 20 in every 100 of the day's 174,232 news stories were about people being harmed, as usual. In Cuba's news, mentions of tornadoes ran more than ten times their usual. A year earlier, on 28 January 2018, 24 in every 100 stories were about people being harmed, against 20 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 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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