We measure how the world's news covered people being harmed — and the help and hope within it.
170 of its 207 stories (82%) were about people being harmed, usually 53%. Mamuju accounted for 60 of Indonesia's 170 stories about harm, carried by 135 outlets. Reports of refugees ran at more than ten times the usual rate (10 stories). Earthquake was named in 118 of its stories about harm, about 4 times usual, with landslides, tsunami and flooding. Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's.
252 of its 522 stories (48%) were about people being harmed, usually 29%. Moscow accounted for 192 of Russia's 252 stories about harm, carried by 627 outlets. Reports of arrests ran at about 8 times the usual rate (61 stories). Poisoning was named in 145 of its stories about harm, about 6 times usual. Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's.
52 of its 62 stories (84%) were about people being harmed, usually 49%. Darfur accounted for 46 of Sudan's 52 stories about harm, carried by 101 outlets. Reports of people injured ran at about 5 times the usual rate (39 stories). Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's.
36 of its 49 stories (73%) were about people being harmed, usually 55%. Tunis accounted for 28 of Tunisia's 36 stories about harm, carried by 51 outlets. 18 of Tunis' 28 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of arrests ran at about 6 times the usual rate (20 stories).
49 of its 71 stories (69%) were about people being harmed, usually 32%. Reports of people killed ran at about three times the usual rate (45 stories). Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's.
150 of its 191 stories (79%) were about people being harmed, usually 61%. Kabul accounted for 123 of Afghanistan's 150 stories about harm, carried by 181 outlets. Its coverage was about three times as angry as the world's.
86 of its 328 stories (26%) were about people being harmed, usually 19%. Reports of people injured ran at about three times the usual rate (5 stories). Grief in its coverage rose to about one and a half times its own usual.
16 of its 23 stories (70%) were about people being harmed, usually 53%. Reports of people injured ran at about twice the usual rate (10 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as warm as the world's.
78 of its 155 stories (50%) were about people being harmed, usually 36%. Reports of evacuations ran at more than ten times the usual rate (6 stories).
35 of its 59 stories (59%) were about people being harmed, usually 47%. Hurricane was named in 29 of its stories about harm, about 9 times usual, with covid.
Also named far more than usual: hurricane in Guatemala (29 of its stories, about 9 times its usual); road crashes in Hong Kong (10 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); cyclone in Australia (23 of its stories, about 4 times its usual); polio in India (32 of its stories, about three times its usual).
Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 17 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 13,372 stories about harm among 45,813 counted on 17 Jan.
The news turned to Indonesia for the third day running. 29 in every 100 of the day's 45,813 news stories were about people being harmed, as usual. On 18 January 2020, a year earlier, the share was 20 in every 100, against 29 today. Indonesia stood out: 82% of its news was about people being harmed, usually 53%. This week the news turned most often to Uganda, on 3 of 7 days.
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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