We measure how the world's news covered people being harmed — and the help and hope within it.
419 of its 444 stories (94%) were about people being harmed, usually 80%. Tongatapu accounted for 145 of Tonga's 419 stories about harm, carried by 419 outlets. Reports of people killed ran at about 4 times the usual rate (226 stories). Oil spill was named in 52 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual, with poisoning. Grief in its coverage rose to about twice its own usual.
175 of its 207 stories (85%) were about people being harmed, usually 62%. Sanaa accounted for 104 of Yemen's 175 stories about harm, carried by 98 outlets. Reports of people injured ran at about 4 times the usual rate (86 stories). Its coverage was about 5 times as angry as the world's. Fear in its coverage rose to about one and a half times its own usual.
Khartoum accounted for 69 of Sudan's 85 stories about harm, carried by 94 outlets. 62 of Khartoum's 69 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of arrests ran at about twice the usual rate (13 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as warm as the world's.
139 of its 193 stories (72%) were about people being harmed, usually 47%. Reports of people killed ran at about 4 times the usual rate (27 stories). Outbreaks were named in 62 of its stories about harm, about three times usual.
39 of its 70 stories (56%) were about people being harmed, usually 31%. Lima accounted for 26 of Peru's 39 stories about harm, carried by 56 outlets. Reports of people affected ran at about three times the usual rate (6 stories). Oil spill was named in 11 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual.
181 of its 264 stories (69%) were about people being harmed, usually 51%. Reports of people injured ran at about 5 times the usual rate (51 stories). Earthquake was named in 53 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual. Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's.
29 of its 36 stories (81%) were about people being harmed, usually 51%. Mogadishu accounted for 18 of Somalia's 29 stories about harm, carried by 31 outlets. Reports of people injured ran at about three times the usual rate (13 stories).
55 of its 144 stories (38%) were about people being harmed, usually 26%. Reports of people injured ran at more than ten times the usual rate (11 stories). Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's.
174 of its 524 stories (33%) were about people being harmed, usually 24%. Reports of people injured ran at about 9 times the usual rate (59 stories). Its coverage was about three times as angry as the world's.
103 of its 182 stories (57%) were about people being harmed, usually 27%. Warsaw accounted for 81 of Poland's 103 stories about harm, carried by 87 outlets.
Also named far more than usual: earthquake in Afghanistan (53 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); oil spill in Peru (11 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); flooding in Indonesia (15 of its stories, about 4 times its usual); avalanche in Kashmir (11 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); illness in Kazakhstan (10 of its stories, about three times its usual).
Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 18 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 21,965 stories about harm among 83,466 counted on 18 Jan.
The share of stories about people being harmed was the lowest since 17 December 2021. 26 in every 100 of the day's 83,466 news stories were about people being harmed, below the usual 29. For the fourth day running, the news turned to Tonga. Reports of people freed or reunited, a sign of help, ran at about twice the usual rate. Abductions were reported at about twice the usual rate, most often about the US and the UK.
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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