We measure how the world's news covered people being harmed — and the help and hope within it.
139 of its 233 stories (60%) were about people being harmed, usually 29%. Tehran accounted for 92 of Iran's 139 stories about harm, carried by 105 outlets. Reports of people killed ran at about three times the usual rate (84 stories). Plane crash was named in 15 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual, with flooding. Its coverage was about three times as angry as the world's. Grief in its coverage rose to about one and a half times its own usual.
31 of its 65 stories (48%) were about people being harmed, usually 35%. 20 of Almaty's 21 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of arrests ran at about 7 times the usual rate (8 stories). Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's.
382 of its 664 stories (58%) were about people being harmed, usually 51%. Manila accounted for 151 of the Philippines' 382 stories about harm, carried by 27 outlets. Flu was named in 18 of its stories about harm, about 10 times usual.
27 of its 54 stories (50%) were about people being harmed, usually 39%. Tunis accounted for 20 of Tunisia's 27 stories about harm, carried by 11 outlets.
67 of its 79 stories (85%) were about people being harmed, usually 67%. Reports of arrests ran at about three times the usual rate (17 stories). Natural hazards were named in 13 of its stories about harm, about 4 times usual. Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's. Anger in its coverage rose to about one and a half times its own usual.
46 of its 69 stories (67%) were about people being harmed, usually 33%. Reports of refugees ran at more than ten times the usual rate (5 stories). Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's.
38 of its 68 stories (56%) were about people being harmed, usually 43%. 11 of Phnom Penh's 22 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of arrests ran at about 4 times the usual rate (14 stories).
28 of its 78 stories (36%) were about people being harmed, usually 27%. 11 of Santiago's 21 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of arrests ran at about 9 times the usual rate (10 stories).
74 of its 132 stories (56%) were about people being harmed, usually 49%. Baghdad accounted for 38 of Iraq's 74 stories about harm, carried by 127 outlets. Its coverage was about three times as angry as the world's.
75 of its 186 stories (40%) were about people being harmed, usually 34%. Reports of arrests ran at about twice the usual rate (10 stories). Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's. Anger in its coverage rose to about one and a half times its own usual.
Also named far more than usual: natural hazards in Haiti (13 of its stories, about 4 times its usual); storms in South Africa (35 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); drownings in New Zealand (14 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); outbreaks in Hong Kong (11 of its stories, about three times its usual); tsunami in Japan (13 of its stories, about three times its usual).
Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 4 Jan. 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 22,576 stories about harm among 76,809 counted on 4 Jan.
Mentions of storms ran more than ten times their usual in South Africa's news. In Iran, 60% of the news was about people being harmed, where 29% is usual. On 4 January 2021, a year earlier, the share was 27 in every 100, against 29 today. 29 in every 100 of the day's 76,809 news stories were about people being harmed, above the usual 28.
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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