We measure how the world's news covered people being harmed — and the help and hope within it.
160 of its 173 stories (92%) were about people being harmed, usually 67%. Mandalay accounted for 94 of Myanmar's 160 stories about harm, carried by 169 outlets. 93 of Mandalay's 94 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of people killed ran at about 9 times the usual rate (140 stories). Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's.
52 of its 67 stories (78%) were about people being harmed, usually 49%. Niamey accounted for 23 of Niger's 52 stories about harm, carried by 58 outlets. Reports of people injured ran at about 6 times the usual rate (17 stories). Drought was named in 20 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual, with covid.
452 of its 1,065 stories (42%) were about people being harmed, usually 34%. Reports of people killed ran at about twice the usual rate (219 stories). Plane crash was named in 38 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual. Its coverage was about one and a half times as grief-stricken as the world's.
55 of its 80 stories (69%) were about people being harmed, usually 47%. Jakarta accounted for 33 of Indonesia's 55 stories about harm, carried by 33 outlets. Drownings were named in 12 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual, with landslides.
43 of its 90 stories (48%) were about people being harmed, usually 28%. Tripoli accounted for 32 of Libya's 43 stories about harm, carried by 82 outlets. Reports of evacuations ran at more than ten times the usual rate (6 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as angry as the world's.
82 of its 116 stories (71%) were about people being harmed, usually 58%. Kabul accounted for 54 of Afghanistan's 82 stories about harm, carried by 64 outlets. Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's.
238 of its 464 stories (51%) were about people being harmed, usually 42%. Jerusalem accounted for 111 of Israel's 238 stories about harm, carried by 155 outlets. Oil spill was named in 21 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual.
71 of its 229 stories (31%) were about people being harmed, usually 23%. Reports of people killed ran at about twice the usual rate (32 stories). Outbreaks were named in 18 of its stories about harm, about three times usual.
169 of its 387 stories (44%) were about people being harmed, usually 36%. Flu was named in 60 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual, with outbreaks and bird flu. Its coverage was about one and a half times as fearful as the world's.
207 of its 415 stories (50%) were about people being harmed, usually 43%. Reports of evacuations ran at more than ten times the usual rate (25 stories). Tropical storm was named in 43 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual, with landslides, storms and cyclone.
Also named far more than usual: flu in Russia (60 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); tropical storm in Philippines (43 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); earthquake in New Zealand (29 of its stories, about 4 times its usual); outbreaks in Italy (18 of its stories, about three times its usual); respiratory illness in Tanzania (10 of its stories, about 5 times its usual).
Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 21 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 13,015 stories about harm among 44,942 counted on 21 Feb.
No day had a higher share of stories about people being harmed since 17 January 2021. Stories about people being harmed made up 29 in every 100 of the day's 44,942 stories, above the usual 26. It was the third day running that the news turned to Myanmar. On the side of help, reports of people freed or reunited ran at about twice the usual rate. Reports of abductions ran at about twice the usual rate, most often about Nigeria and India. This week the news turned most often to Myanmar, on 6 of 7 days; help rose on 1 of them.
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 much 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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