We measure how the world's news covered people being harmed — and the help and hope within it.
117 of its 152 stories (77%) were about people being harmed, usually 65%. Yangon accounted for 84 of Myanmar's 117 stories about harm, carried by 135 outlets. 82 of Yangon's 84 stories were about protests or strikes. Flooding was named in 10 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual. Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's. Fear in its coverage rose to about one and a half times its own usual.
32 of its 83 stories (39%) were about people being harmed, usually 27%. Tripoli accounted for 28 of Libya's 32 stories about harm, carried by 170 outlets. Reports of people injured ran at about twice the usual rate (5 stories). Drownings were named in 10 of its stories about harm, about 4 times usual. Its coverage was about one and a half times as angry as the world's.
22 of its 28 stories (79%) were about people being harmed, usually 28%. Reports of people killed ran at about 4 times the usual rate (18 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as grief-stricken as the world's.
86 of its 222 stories (39%) were about people being harmed, usually 31%. Snowstorms were named in 14 of its stories about harm, about 7 times usual, with power cuts.
42 of its 85 stories (49%) were about people being harmed, usually 32%. Minsk accounted for 29 of Belarus' 42 stories about harm, carried by 81 outlets. 23 of Minsk's 29 stories were about protests or strikes. Its coverage was about one and a half times as angry as the world's.
50 of its 70 stories (71%) were about people being harmed, usually 41%. Kagara accounted for 43 of Niger's 50 stories about harm, carried by 27 outlets. Reports of abductions ran at about 6 times the usual rate (32 stories).
147 of its 425 stories (35%) were about people being harmed, usually 22%. Dubai accounted for 126 of the United Arab Emirates' 147 stories about harm, carried by 217 outlets. Reports of abductions ran at more than ten times the usual rate (15 stories).
40 of its 59 stories (68%) were about people being harmed, usually 48%. Kigali accounted for 28 of Rwanda's 40 stories about harm, carried by 43 outlets. Its coverage was about one and a half times as fearful as the world's.
23 of Barcelona's 33 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of arrests ran at about 5 times the usual rate (40 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as fearful as the world's. Anger in its coverage rose to about twice its own usual.
66 of its 72 stories (92%) were about people being harmed, usually 63%. 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.
Also named far more than usual: snowstorms in US (1465 of its stories, about 5 times its usual); volcanic eruption in Italy (16 of its stories, about 8 times its usual); volcanic eruption in Philippines (16 of its stories, about 4 times its usual); respiratory illness in Australia (12 of its stories, about 7 times its usual); landslides in China (11 of its stories, about 8 times its usual).
Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 17 Feb. 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 26,962 stories about harm among 101,099 counted on 17 Feb.
It was the fourth day running that the news turned to Myanmar. of the day's 101,099 news stories, 27 in every 100 were about people being harmed, as usual. the US's news mentioned snowstorms about 5 times as often as usual. On 18 February 2020, a year earlier, the share was 20 in every 100, against 27 today. In Myanmar, 77% of the news was about people being harmed, where 65% is usual.
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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