We measure how the world's news covered people being harmed — and the help and hope within it.
4,988 of its 6,741 stories (74%) were about people being harmed, usually 43%. Wuhan accounted for 2,888 of China's 4,988 stories about harm, carried by 2,176 outlets. Reports of evacuations ran at about 4 times the usual rate (374 stories). Polio was named in 50 of its stories about harm, about three times usual.
Baghdad accounted for 51 of Iraq's 114 stories about harm, carried by 208 outlets. 27 of Baghdad's 51 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of people affected ran at about three times the usual rate (21 stories). Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's.
83 of its 158 stories (53%) were about people being harmed, usually 44%. Jammu accounted for 51 of Kashmir's 83 stories about harm, carried by 31 outlets. Its coverage was about three times as fearful as the world's.
9 of its 16 stories (56%) were about people being harmed, usually 26%. Reports of arrests ran at about 5 times the usual rate (7 stories).
52 of its 103 stories (50%) were about people being harmed, usually 34%. Reports of people killed ran at about three times the usual rate (15 stories). Fear in its coverage rose to about one and a half times its own usual.
39 of its 165 stories (24%) were about people being harmed, usually 15%. Poisoning was named in 13 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.
63 of its 161 stories (39%) were about people being harmed, usually 21%. Taipei accounted for 42 of Taiwan's 63 stories about harm, carried by 26 outlets.
113 of its 427 stories (26%) were about people being harmed, usually 13%. Reports of evacuations ran at more than ten times the usual rate (27 stories).
120 of its 394 stories (30%) were about people being harmed, usually 19%. Reports of people killed ran at about twice the usual rate (31 stories).
22 of its 101 stories (22%) were about people being harmed, usually 11%. Reports of people affected ran at about 6 times the usual rate (9 stories).
Also named far more than usual: poisoning in Belgium (13 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); tsunami in Indonesia (17 of its stories, about three times its usual); heatwave in Australia (96 of its stories, about 6 times its usual); respiratory illness in Vietnam (12 of its stories, about 5 times its usual); flu in Spain (13 of its stories, about 5 times its usual).
Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 31 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 24,466 stories about harm among 118,405 counted on 31 Jan.
For the fifth day running, the news turned to China. Stories about people being harmed made up 21 in every 100 of the day's 118,405 stories, as usual. Help and hope: reports of aid and relief ran at about three times the usual rate. Reports of evacuations ran at about twice the usual rate, most often about China and the UK. Belgium's news mentioned poisoning more than ten times as often as usual.
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?
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