We measure how the world's news covered people being harmed — and the help and hope within it.
95 of its 107 stories (89%) were about people being harmed, usually 70%. Yangon accounted for 55 of Myanmar's 95 stories about harm, carried by 77 outlets. 53 of Yangon's 55 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of people killed ran at about three times the usual rate (55 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as fearful as the world's.
48 of its 59 stories (81%) were about people being harmed, usually 50%. Port-au-Prince accounted for 40 of Haiti's 48 stories about harm, carried by 146 outlets. Reports of people killed ran at about 4 times the usual rate (43 stories). Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's.
29 of its 51 stories (57%) were about people being harmed, usually 34%. Reports of people injured ran at about twice the usual rate (8 stories). Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's.
34 of its 78 stories (44%) were about people being harmed, usually 30%. Reports of evacuations ran at more than ten times the usual rate (10 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as grief-stricken as the world's.
205 of its 413 stories (50%) were about people being harmed, usually 37%. Riyadh accounted for 108 of Saudi Arabia's 205 stories about harm, carried by 252 outlets. Reports of arrests ran at about twice the usual rate (33 stories). Its coverage was about three times as angry as the world's.
35 of its 56 stories (62%) were about people being harmed, usually 46%. Tunis accounted for 34 of Tunisia's 35 stories about harm, carried by 35 outlets. 18 of Tunis' 34 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of arrests ran at about three times the usual rate (6 stories).
535 of its 1,028 stories (52%) were about people being harmed, usually 34%. Reports of abductions ran at about 6 times the usual rate (291 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as fearful as the world's.
118 of its 219 stories (54%) were about people being harmed, usually 39%. Reports of people displaced ran at more than ten times the usual rate (20 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as grief-stricken as the world's.
75 of its 186 stories (40%) were about people being harmed, usually 33%. Tehran accounted for 48 of Iran's 75 stories about harm, carried by 70 outlets. Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's.
10 of its 16 stories (62%) were about people being harmed, usually 40%. 7 of Tbilisi's 9 stories were about protests or strikes.
Also named far more than usual: illness in New Zealand (48 of its stories, about 4 times its usual); natural hazards in Italy (24 of its stories, about 7 times its usual); train derailment in US (64 of its stories, about 7 times its usual).
Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 27 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 14,852 stories about harm among 55,759 counted on 27 Feb.
Reports of abductions ran at about 4 times the usual rate, most often about Nigeria and the US. Stories about people being harmed made up 27 in every 100 of the day's 55,759 stories, as usual. Help and hope: reports of people freed or reunited ran at about twice the usual rate. For the second day running, the news turned to Myanmar. the US's news mentioned train derailment about 7 times as often as 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 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?
Unlock a year of trends, free. Follow up to 5 countries, with a bell when their news changes, and 👍 vote for Pro — ten years of the archive, any period, daily alerts.
Create a free accountSign in · a username, an email and a password.