We measure how the world's news covered people being harmed — and the help and hope within it.
116 of its 143 stories (81%) were about people being harmed, usually 30%. Freetown accounted for 102 of Sierra Leone's 116 stories about harm, carried by 112 outlets. 96 of Freetown's 102 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of people affected ran at about 7 times the usual rate (48 stories). Its coverage was about three times as angry as the world's.
83 of its 105 stories (79%) were about people being harmed, usually 33%. Tunis accounted for 82 of Tunisia's 83 stories about harm, carried by 85 outlets. Reports of people killed ran at about 7 times the usual rate (79 stories). Its coverage was about 4 times as angry as the world's.
270 of its 548 stories (49%) were about people being harmed, usually 42%. Istanbul accounted for 202 of Türkiye's 270 stories about harm, carried by 343 outlets. Reports of evacuations ran at about three times the usual rate (17 stories). Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's.
635 of its 1,185 stories (54%) were about people being harmed, usually 41%. Reports of refugees ran at about three times the usual rate (66 stories). Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's.
123 of its 141 stories (87%) were about people being harmed, usually 71%. 55 of Khashm el-Girba's 55 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of refugees ran at about twice the usual rate (5 stories). Food poisoning was named in 50 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual, with poisoning. Its coverage was about three times as grief-stricken as the world's.
61 of its 76 stories (80%) were about people being harmed, usually 57%. Bangui accounted for 50 of the Central African Republic's 61 stories about harm, carried by 60 outlets. Its coverage was about twice as warm as the world's.
51 of its 115 stories (44%) were about people being harmed, usually 25%. 38 of Port-au-Prince's 40 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of people injured ran at more than ten times the usual rate (18 stories).
165 of its 299 stories (55%) were about people being harmed, usually 44%. Reports of evacuations ran at more than ten times the usual rate (17 stories). Power cuts were named in 13 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual.
48 of its 176 stories (27%) were about people being harmed, usually 16%. Reports of people killed ran at about 5 times the usual rate (36 stories). Its coverage was about three times as grief-stricken as the world's.
335 of its 835 stories (40%) were about people being harmed, usually 32%. Reports of abductions ran at about 9 times the usual rate (18 stories). Its coverage was about three times as grief-stricken as the world's.
Also named far more than usual: food poisoning in Sudan (50 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); measles in Philippines (88 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); poisoning in Bulgaria (15 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); extreme cold in Iran (40 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); train derailment in Spain (31 of its stories, more than ten times its usual).
Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 8 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 35,835 stories about harm among 194,490 counted on 8 Feb.
In Sudan's news, mentions of food poisoning ran more than ten times their usual. Stories about people being harmed made up 18 in every 100 of the day's 194,490 stories, as usual. Sierra Leone's news was 81% about people being harmed, against a usual 30%. People falling ill were reported at about twice the usual rate, most often about the US and Bulgaria. A year earlier, on 8 February 2018, 19 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.