We measure how the world's news covered people being harmed — and the help and hope within it.
32 of its 35 stories (91%) were about people being harmed, usually 59%. Ouagadougou accounted for 25 of Burkina Faso's 32 stories about harm, carried by 40 outlets. Reports of people affected ran at about twice the usual rate (24 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as fearful as the world's.
88 of its 168 stories (52%) were about people being harmed, usually 29%. Reports of arrests ran at about 5 times the usual rate (11 stories). Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's.
21 of its 45 stories (47%) were about people being harmed, usually 27%. 5 of Windhoek's 9 stories were about protests or strikes.
Reports of people displaced ran at about 5 times the usual rate (7 stories). Its coverage was about three times as angry as the world's. Fear in its coverage rose to about one and a half times its own usual.
340 of its 470 stories (72%) were about people being harmed, usually 64%. Tehran accounted for 141 of Iran's 340 stories about harm, carried by 152 outlets. Reports of evacuations ran at about twice the usual rate (21 stories). Its coverage was about three times as grief-stricken as the world's.
Wuhan accounted for 1,277 of China's 2,839 stories about harm, carried by 1,473 outlets. Reports of people injured ran at about three times the usual rate (56 stories). West Nile virus was named in 17 of its stories about harm, about 8 times usual, with rabies. Its coverage was about one and a half times as grief-stricken as the world's.
462 of its 1,005 stories (46%) were about people being harmed, usually 25%. Reports of people falling ill ran at about 6 times the usual rate (7 stories). HIV was named in 12 of its stories about harm, about 4 times usual.
745 of its 1,571 stories (47%) were about people being harmed, usually 31%. Reports of people displaced ran at about three times the usual rate (24 stories). Plague was named in 20 of its stories about harm, about three times usual.
19 of its 39 stories (49%) were about people being harmed, usually 32%. Reports of people killed ran at about twice the usual rate (13 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as grief-stricken as the world's.
208 of its 372 stories (56%) were about people being harmed, usually 32%. Ebola was named in 14 of its stories about harm, about 5 times usual.
Also named far more than usual: flu in Latvia (12 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); respiratory illness in Russia (51 of its stories, about 8 times its usual); ebola in Japan (25 of its stories, about 5 times its usual); respiratory illness in Türkiye (10 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); ebola in Kenya (14 of its stories, about 5 times its usual).
Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 19 Mar. 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 52,851 stories about harm among 132,278 counted on 19 Mar.
Of the day's 132,278 news stories, 40 in every 100 were about people being harmed, above the usual 27. the share of stories about people being harmed was the highest in all 1540 days held. Mentions of the flu ran more than ten times their usual in Latvia's news. A year earlier, on 20 March 2019, 20 in every 100 stories were about people being harmed, against 40 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?
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