We measure how the world's news covered people being harmed — and the help and hope within it.
48 of its 66 stories (73%) were about people being harmed, usually 53%. Darfur accounted for 33 of Sudan's 48 stories about harm, carried by 58 outlets. Reports of people displaced ran at about three times the usual rate (25 stories). Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's.
Tunis accounted for 43 of Tunisia's 54 stories about harm, carried by 76 outlets. 39 of Tunis' 43 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of arrests ran at about 4 times the usual rate (41 stories). Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's.
123 of its 297 stories (41%) were about people being harmed, usually 24%. Avalanche was named in 12 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual. Its coverage was about twice as fearful as the world's.
Bangkok accounted for 73 of Thailand's 105 stories about harm, carried by 98 outlets. Reports of arrests ran at about three times the usual rate (30 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as angry as the world's.
32 of its 38 stories (84%) were about people being harmed, usually 69%. Bangui accounted for 18 of the Central African Republic's 32 stories about harm, carried by 41 outlets. Reports of people displaced ran at about twice the usual rate (6 stories). Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's. Grief in its coverage rose to about one and a half times its own usual.
61 of its 138 stories (44%) were about people being harmed, usually 27%. Outbreaks were named in 22 of its stories about harm, about 6 times usual. Its coverage was about one and a half times as fearful as the world's.
26 of its 43 stories (60%) were about people being harmed, usually 43%. Kigali accounted for 22 of Rwanda's 26 stories about harm, carried by 24 outlets. Outbreaks were named in 11 of its stories about harm, about 4 times usual.
393 of its 1,022 stories (38%) were about people being harmed, usually 31%. Reports of arrests ran at about three times the usual rate (64 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as angry as the world's.
846 of its 2,405 stories (35%) were about people being harmed, usually 30%. Reports of refugees ran at about twice the usual rate (5 stories). Grief in its coverage rose to about one and a half times its own usual.
82 of its 137 stories (60%) were about people being harmed, usually 41%. Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's.
Also named far more than usual: earthquake in Argentina (33 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); outbreaks in Romania (22 of its stories, about 6 times its usual); outbreaks in Rwanda (11 of its stories, about 4 times its usual); snowstorms in Japan (20 of its stories, about 8 times its usual); heavy rain in UK (121 of its stories, about 4 times its usual).
Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 19 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 25,489 stories about harm among 94,433 counted on 19 Jan.
For the third day running, the news turned to Sudan. Stories about people being harmed made up 27 in every 100 of the day's 94,433 stories, below the usual 28. Mentions of the earthquake ran more than ten times their usual in Argentina's news. A year earlier, on 20 January 2020, 18 in every 100 stories were about people being harmed, against 27 today. Sudan stood out: 73% of its news was about people being harmed, usually 53%.
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 about as 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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