We measure how the world's news covered people being harmed — and the help and hope within it.
18 of its 21 stories (86%) were about people being harmed, usually 32%. Thimphu accounted for 17 of Bhutan's 18 stories about harm, carried by 15 outlets. Reports of people killed ran at about three times the usual rate (7 stories). Covid was named in 17 of its stories about harm, about three times usual. Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's.
141 of its 243 stories (58%) were about people being harmed, usually 45%. Bali accounted for 63 of Indonesia's 141 stories about harm, carried by 292 outlets. Reports of evacuations ran at about three times the usual rate (7 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as angry as the world's.
61 of its 129 stories (47%) were about people being harmed, usually 36%. 8 of Hong Kong's 12 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of arrests ran at about three times the usual rate (41 stories). Anger in its coverage rose to about one and a half times its own usual.
86 of its 175 stories (49%) were about people being harmed, usually 42%. Kampala accounted for 39 of Uganda's 86 stories about harm, carried by 37 outlets. Reports of arrests ran at about twice the usual rate (32 stories).
148 of its 256 stories (58%) were about people being harmed, usually 46%. Tehran accounted for 99 of Iran's 148 stories about harm, carried by 117 outlets. Plane crash was named in 23 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual, with hiv. Its coverage was about one and a half times as angry as the world's.
331 of its 743 stories (45%) were about people being harmed, usually 36%. Reports of abductions ran at about twice the usual rate (18 stories). Its coverage was about twice as fearful as the world's.
50 of its 77 stories (65%) were about people being harmed, usually 56%. Baghdad accounted for 32 of Iraq's 50 stories about harm, carried by 109 outlets. Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's.
32 of its 81 stories (40%) were about people being harmed, usually 24%. Its coverage was about one and a half times as fearful as the world's.
17 of its 23 stories (74%) were about people being harmed, usually 47%. Its coverage was about one and a half times as angry as the world's.
25 of its 56 stories (45%) were about people being harmed, usually 32%. Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's.
Also named far more than usual: flooding in Malaysia (26 of its stories, about 4 times its usual); plane crash in Iran (23 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); snowstorms in Kashmir (11 of its stories, about three times its usual); flu in India (140 of its stories, about 5 times its usual); flu in France (15 of its stories, about 5 times its usual).
Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 8 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 26,530 stories about harm among 92,993 counted on 8 Jan.
Reports of people freed or reunited, a sign of help, ran at about one and a half times the usual rate. 29 in every 100 of the day's 92,993 news stories were about people being harmed, above the usual 27. In Bhutan, 86% of the news was about people being harmed, where 32% is usual. Bhutan's news mentioned Covid about three times as often as usual. A year earlier, on 9 January 2020, 20 in every 100 stories were about people being harmed, against 29 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 harsher 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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