We measure how the world's news covered people being harmed — and the help and hope within it.
413 of its 693 stories (60%) were about people being harmed, usually 33%. Moscow accounted for 335 of Russia's 413 stories about harm, carried by 687 outlets. 264 of Moscow's 335 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of arrests ran at more than ten times the usual rate (253 stories). Poisoning was named in 192 of its stories about harm, about three times usual, with extreme cold. Its coverage was about three times as angry as the world's.
38 of its 86 stories (44%) were about people being harmed, usually 28%. Lisbon accounted for 32 of Portugal's 38 stories about harm, carried by 36 outlets. Reports of people killed ran at about twice the usual rate (29 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as grief-stricken as the world's.
42 of its 46 stories (91%) were about people being harmed, usually 60%. Beira accounted for 34 of Mozambique's 42 stories about harm, carried by 65 outlets. Heavy rain was named in 22 of its stories about harm, about 4 times usual, with storms.
21 of its 38 stories (55%) were about people being harmed, usually 30%. Its coverage was about one and a half times as grief-stricken as the world's.
15 of its 21 stories (71%) were about people being harmed, usually 29%. 6 of Minsk's 8 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of arrests ran at about twice the usual rate (7 stories).
63 of its 131 stories (48%) were about people being harmed, usually 39%. Reports of people killed ran at about 4 times the usual rate (33 stories). Outbreaks were named in 29 of its stories about harm, about 5 times usual.
37 of its 52 stories (71%) were about people being harmed, usually 59%. Tunis accounted for 27 of Tunisia's 37 stories about harm, carried by 76 outlets. 14 of Tunis' 27 stories were about protests or strikes.
95 of its 176 stories (54%) were about people being harmed, usually 39%. Anger in its coverage rose to about one and a half times its own usual.
26 of its 33 stories (79%) were about people being harmed, usually 55%. Reports of refugees ran at about twice the usual rate (8 stories).
7 of its 13 stories (54%) were about people being harmed, usually 11%. Reports of people killed ran at about three times the usual rate (5 stories).
Also named far more than usual: outbreaks in Hong Kong (29 of its stories, about 5 times its usual); cyclone in South Africa (16 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); malaria in Nigeria (14 of its stories, about three times its usual); earthquake in China (10 of its stories, about 5 times its usual); tsunami in US (57 of its stories, about three times its usual).
Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 23 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 15,454 stories about harm among 55,479 counted on 23 Jan.
People falling ill were reported at about three times the usual rate, most often about the US and Ukraine. 28 in every 100 of the day's 55,479 news stories were about people being harmed, as usual. In Russia's news, mentions of poisoning ran about three times their usual. A year earlier, on 24 January 2020, 20 in every 100 stories were about people being harmed, against 28 today. Russia's news was 60% about people being harmed, against a usual 33%.
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 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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