We measure how the world's news covered people being harmed — and the help and hope within it.
188 of its 269 stories (70%) were about people being harmed, usually 41%. Dhaka accounted for 86 of Bangladesh's 188 stories about harm, carried by 88 outlets. Reports of people killed ran at about three times the usual rate (96 stories). Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's.
323 of its 409 stories (79%) were about people being harmed, usually 58%. Kabul accounted for 274 of Afghanistan's 323 stories about harm, carried by 360 outlets. Reports of people affected ran at about 6 times the usual rate (71 stories). Its coverage was about 6 times as angry as the world's.
7 of its 8 stories (88%) were about people being harmed, usually 27%. Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's.
36 of its 57 stories (63%) were about people being harmed, usually 49%.
160 of its 310 stories (52%) were about people being harmed, usually 30%. Reports of people killed ran at about twice the usual rate (62 stories). Flu was named in 45 of its stories about harm, about 6 times usual.
76 of its 124 stories (61%) were about people being harmed, usually 36%. Reports of refugees ran at about 4 times the usual rate (7 stories). Flu was named in 11 of its stories about harm, about three times usual.
61 of its 78 stories (78%) were about people being harmed, usually 49%. Tripoli accounted for 50 of Libya's 61 stories about harm, carried by 116 outlets. Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's.
434 of its 912 stories (48%) were about people being harmed, usually 30%. Reports of evacuations ran at about three times the usual rate (6 stories). Earthquake was named in 64 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual, with tsunami.
462 of its 921 stories (50%) were about people being harmed, usually 32%. Reports of arrests ran at about twice the usual rate (28 stories). Its coverage was about 4 times as grief-stricken as the world's.
107 of its 213 stories (50%) were about people being harmed, usually 32%. Reports of evacuations ran at about twice the usual rate (5 stories). Fear in its coverage rose to about one and a half times its own usual.
Also named far more than usual: covid in Syria (43 of its stories, about 5 times its usual); flu in Brazil (45 of its stories, about 6 times its usual); covid in Somalia (12 of its stories, about three times its usual); earthquake in Russia (64 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); earthquake in New Zealand (49 of its stories, about 5 times its usual).
Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 25 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 51,075 stories about harm among 125,043 counted on 25 Mar.
Of the day's 125,043 news stories, 41 in every 100 were about people being harmed, above the usual 31. Syria's news mentioned Covid about 5 times as often as usual. On 26 March 2019, a year earlier, the share was 18 in every 100, against 41 today. In Bangladesh, 70% of the news was about people being harmed, where 41% is 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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