We measure how the world's news covered people being harmed — and the help and hope within it.
213 of its 571 stories (37%) were about people being harmed, usually 24%. Madrid accounted for 140 of Spain's 213 stories about harm, carried by 226 outlets. Reports of people injured ran at more than ten times the usual rate (56 stories). Gas explosion was named in 32 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual.
37 of its 77 stories (48%) were about people being harmed, usually 36%. Reports of people affected ran at about 4 times the usual rate (19 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as grief-stricken as the world's.
35 of its 55 stories (64%) were about people being harmed, usually 53%. Darfur accounted for 20 of Sudan's 35 stories about harm, carried by 33 outlets. Its coverage was about one and a half times as angry as the world's.
Tunis accounted for 34 of Tunisia's 38 stories about harm, carried by 96 outlets. 27 of Tunis' 34 stories were about protests or strikes. Its coverage was about one and a half times as angry as the world's.
Reports of abductions ran at more than ten times the usual rate (57 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as fearful as the world's.
Flooding was named in 243 of its stories about harm, about 4 times usual, with heavy rain. Its coverage was about one and a half times as fearful as the world's.
Kabul accounted for 36 of Afghanistan's 67 stories about harm, carried by 62 outlets. Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's.
Reports of evacuations ran at about three times the usual rate (5 stories). Road crashes were named in 24 of its stories about harm, about three times usual.
53 of its 116 stories (46%) were about people being harmed, usually 28%.
157 of its 469 stories (33%) were about people being harmed, usually 22%.
Also named far more than usual: flooding in UK (243 of its stories, about 4 times its usual); road crashes in India (24 of its stories, about three times its usual).
Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 20 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 25,977 stories about harm among 100,594 counted on 20 Jan.
The share of stories about people being harmed was the lowest since 18 December 2020. Mentions of gas explosion ran more than ten times their usual in Spain's news. A year earlier, on 21 January 2020, 19 in every 100 stories were about people being harmed, against 26 today. Stories about people being harmed made up 26 in every 100 of the day's 100,594 stories, below the usual 28.
Written by code from the day's numbers.
Countries with at least 50 stories that day.
Stories, not people.
Each country shaded by how much of its news was about people being harmed, against the world's 26 in 100 that day. Stronger colour: further above. A country with few stories is drawn closer to the world's. Click a country.
Stories, not people. Countries with at least 50 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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