We measure how the world's news covered people being harmed — and the help and hope within it.
200 of its 332 stories (60%) were about people being harmed, usually 41%. Dar es Salaam accounted for 123 of Tanzania's 200 stories about harm, carried by 210 outlets. Reports of people killed ran at about twice the usual rate (116 stories). Its coverage was about three times as grief-stricken as the world's.
89 of its 206 stories (43%) were about people being harmed, usually 33%. Tehran accounted for 58 of Iran's 89 stories about harm, carried by 65 outlets. Reports of people killed ran at about twice the usual rate (45 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as angry as the world's.
Yangon accounted for 45 of Myanmar's 73 stories about harm, carried by 165 outlets. 41 of Yangon's 45 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of people affected ran at about three times the usual rate (5 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as angry as the world's.
64 of its 158 stories (41%) were about people being harmed, usually 32%. Reports of people affected ran at about twice the usual rate (7 stories).
Kabul accounted for 82 of Afghanistan's 132 stories about harm, carried by 132 outlets. Helicopter crash was named in 22 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual. Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's.
80 of its 151 stories (53%) were about people being harmed, usually 30%. Its coverage was about one and a half times as fearful as the world's.
35 of its 81 stories (43%) were about people being harmed, usually 20%. Reports of people killed ran at about three times the usual rate (18 stories).
12 of its 16 stories (75%) were about people being harmed, usually 42%. 4 of Asuncion's 6 stories were about protests or strikes.
63 of its 155 stories (41%) were about people being harmed, usually 33%. Reports of arrests ran at about 4 times the usual rate (12 stories).
Reports of refugees ran at about three times the usual rate (13 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as fearful as the world's.
Also named far more than usual: earthquake in Algeria (15 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); hurricane in Greece (25 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); helicopter crash in Afghanistan (22 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); flooding in Australia (39 of its stories, about three times its usual); flu in Germany (12 of its stories, about 4 times its usual).
Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 18 Mar. 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 24,806 stories about harm among 97,301 counted on 18 Mar.
Algeria's news mentioned the earthquake more than ten times as often as usual. 25 in every 100 of the day's 97,301 news stories were about people being harmed, as usual. For the second day running, the news turned to Tanzania. A year earlier, on 18 March 2020, 39 in every 100 stories were about people being harmed, against 25 today. Tanzania's news was 60% about people being harmed, against a usual 41%.
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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