We measure how the world's news covered people being harmed — and the help and hope within it.
62 of its 80 stories (78%) were about people being harmed, usually 69%. Yangon accounted for 29 of Myanmar's 62 stories about harm, carried by 39 outlets. 28 of Yangon's 29 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of people affected ran at about twice the usual rate (6 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as angry as the world's. Fear in its coverage rose to about one and a half times its own usual.
82 of its 106 stories (77%) were about people being harmed, usually 37%. Guayaquil accounted for 35 of Ecuador's 82 stories about harm, carried by 58 outlets. Reports of arrests ran at more than ten times the usual rate (36 stories). Its coverage was about three times as grief-stricken as the world's. Anger in its coverage rose to about three times its own usual.
27 of its 55 stories (49%) were about people being harmed, usually 23%. Earthquake was named in 21 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual. Its coverage was about one and a half times as fearful as the world's.
176 of its 562 stories (31%) were about people being harmed, usually 23%. Reports of refugees ran at about 4 times the usual rate (6 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as grief-stricken as the world's. Anger in its coverage rose to about one and a half times its own usual.
20 of its 33 stories (61%) were about people being harmed, usually 40%. Tbilisi accounted for 17 of Georgia's 20 stories about harm, carried by 27 outlets. 13 of Tbilisi's 17 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of arrests ran at about twice the usual rate (7 stories).
Damascus accounted for 59 of Syria's 99 stories about harm, carried by 125 outlets. 44 of Damascus' 59 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of arrests ran at about three times the usual rate (39 stories). Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's.
35 of its 86 stories (41%) were about people being harmed, usually 23%. Reports of arrests ran at about three times the usual rate (14 stories). Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's. Fear in its coverage rose to about one and a half times its own usual.
316 of its 720 stories (44%) were about people being harmed, usually 28%. Accra accounted for 179 of Ghana's 316 stories about harm, carried by 270 outlets.
50 of its 145 stories (34%) were about people being harmed, usually 25%. Drought was named in 10 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual.
95 of its 238 stories (40%) were about people being harmed, usually 33%. Fear in its coverage rose to about one and a half times its own usual.
Also named far more than usual: illness in Fiji (11 of its stories, about 4 times its usual); drought in Taiwan (10 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); oil spill in Israel (15 of its stories, about 4 times its usual); road crashes in South Africa (19 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); road crashes in US (190 of its stories, about 7 times its usual).
Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 24 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 25,443 stories about harm among 102,175 counted on 24 Feb.
For the sixth day running, the news turned to Myanmar. Stories about people being harmed made up 25 in every 100 of the day's 102,175 stories, below the usual 26. Mentions of the earthquake ran more than ten times their usual in Iceland's news. A year earlier, on 25 February 2020, 22 in every 100 stories were about people being harmed, against 25 today. Myanmar stood out: 78% of its news was about people being harmed, usually 69%.
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 about as 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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