We measure how the world's news covered people being harmed — and the help and hope within it.
212 of its 335 stories (63%) were about people being harmed, usually 23%. Birkenau accounted for 93 of Poland's 212 stories about harm, carried by 567 outlets. Reports of people affected ran at about 9 times the usual rate (78 stories). Hunger was named in 34 of its stories about harm, about 4 times usual. Its coverage was about three times as grief-stricken as the world's.
57 of its 90 stories (63%) were about people being harmed, usually 41%. Banjul accounted for 41 of the Gambia's 57 stories about harm, carried by 64 outlets. 32 of Banjul's 41 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of people injured ran at more than ten times the usual rate (11 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as angry as the world's.
3,342 of its 4,874 stories (69%) were about people being harmed, usually 32%. Wuhan accounted for 2,293 of China's 3,342 stories about harm, carried by 1,840 outlets. Reports of evacuations ran at more than ten times the usual rate (82 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as fearful as the world's.
206 of its 708 stories (29%) were about people being harmed, usually 20%. Reports of arrests ran at about twice the usual rate (18 stories). Hunger was named in 11 of its stories about harm, about 4 times usual. Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's.
Baghdad accounted for 194 of Iraq's 242 stories about harm, carried by 458 outlets. 142 of Baghdad's 194 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of people displaced ran at about three times the usual rate (5 stories). Flooding was named in 28 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual. Its coverage was about three times as angry as the world's.
68 of its 114 stories (60%) were about people being harmed, usually 37%. Tripoli accounted for 56 of Libya's 68 stories about harm, carried by 99 outlets. Reports of arrests ran at more than ten times the usual rate (6 stories). Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's.
32 of its 42 stories (76%) were about people being harmed, usually 46%. Sokolo accounted for 26 of Mali's 32 stories about harm, carried by 28 outlets. Reports of people injured ran at about twice the usual rate (19 stories). Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's.
79 of its 274 stories (29%) were about people being harmed, usually 21%. Reports of people displaced ran at more than ten times the usual rate (7 stories). Landslides were named in 30 of its stories about harm, about 7 times usual, with flooding and heavy rain. Its coverage was about one and a half times as grief-stricken as the world's.
37 of its 57 stories (65%) were about people being harmed, usually 37%. Reports of arrests ran at about three times the usual rate (8 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as grief-stricken as the world's.
163 of its 369 stories (44%) were about people being harmed, usually 34%. Reports of people injured ran at about three times the usual rate (70 stories). Earthquake was named in 110 of its stories about harm, about three times usual, with extreme cold.
Also named far more than usual: earthquake in Türkiye (110 of its stories, about three times its usual); landslides in Brazil (30 of its stories, about 7 times its usual); plane crash in Afghanistan (28 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); flooding in Iraq (28 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); flu in Canada (48 of its stories, about 4 times its usual).
Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 27 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 21,028 stories about harm among 103,499 counted on 27 Jan.
Help and hope: reports of vaccination ran at about twice the usual rate. of the day's 103,499 news stories, 20 in every 100 were about people being harmed, as usual. Poland stood out: 63% of its news was about people being harmed, usually 23%. A year earlier, on 27 January 2019, 21 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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