We measure how the world's news covered people being harmed — and the help and hope within it.
188 of its 230 stories (82%) were about people being harmed, usually 59%. Baghdad accounted for 162 of Iraq's 188 stories about harm, carried by 217 outlets. Reports of people injured ran at about 4 times the usual rate (133 stories). Its coverage was about three times as grief-stricken as the world's. Fear in its coverage rose to about one and a half times its own usual.
48 of its 65 stories (74%) were about people being harmed, usually 59%. Beira accounted for 29 of Mozambique's 48 stories about harm, carried by 44 outlets. Reports of evacuations ran at about three times the usual rate (5 stories). Tropical storm was named in 26 of its stories about harm, about three times usual, with heavy rain and storms.
46 of its 103 stories (45%) were about people being harmed, usually 29%. Bucharest accounted for 36 of Romania's 46 stories about harm, carried by 6 outlets. Illness was named in 30 of its stories about harm, about three times usual.
41 of its 50 stories (82%) were about people being harmed, usually 54%. Reports of refugees ran at about three times the usual rate (13 stories).
Reports of evacuations ran at about three times the usual rate (33 stories). Avalanche was named in 10 of its stories about harm, about 4 times usual, with tuberculosis. Its coverage was about one and a half times as fearful as the world's. Grief in its coverage rose to about one and a half times its own usual.
15 of its 19 stories (79%) were about people being harmed, usually 33%. Reports of people killed ran at about twice the usual rate (5 stories).
78 of its 180 stories (43%) were about people being harmed, usually 30%. Reports of arrests ran at about three times the usual rate (7 stories).
15 of its 22 stories (68%) were about people being harmed, usually 37%. Reports of refugees ran at about three times the usual rate (7 stories).
29 of its 74 stories (39%) were about people being harmed, usually 29%. 8 of Minsk's 16 stories were about protests or strikes.
11 of its 18 stories (61%) were about people being harmed, usually 39%. Reports of arrests ran at more than ten times the usual rate (5 stories).
Also named far more than usual: outbreaks in Hong Kong (11 of its stories, about 5 times its usual); heatwave in Australia (24 of its stories, about 8 times its usual); tsunami in Philippines (16 of its stories, about 4 times its usual); flooding in South Africa (16 of its stories, about 6 times its usual); earthquake in India (42 of its stories, about 9 times its usual).
Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 22 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 24,855 stories about harm among 97,089 counted on 22 Jan.
No day had a lower share of stories about people being harmed since 18 December 2020. Stories about people being harmed made up 26 in every 100 of the day's 97,089 stories, below the usual 28. It was the second day running that the news turned to Iraq. In Mozambique's news, mentions of tropical storm ran about three times their usual. A year earlier, on 23 January 2020, 19 in every 100 stories were about people being harmed, against 26 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 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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