We measure how the world's news covered people being harmed — and the help and hope within it.
57 of its 71 stories (80%) were about people being harmed, usually 52%. Damascus accounted for 28 of Syria's 57 stories about harm, carried by 30 outlets. Reports of refugees ran at about twice the usual rate (9 stories). Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's.
34 of its 78 stories (44%) were about people being harmed, usually 26%. 6 of Prague's 12 stories were about protests or strikes. Its coverage was about one and a half times as grief-stricken as the world's.
42 of its 114 stories (37%) were about people being harmed, usually 25%. Brussels accounted for 35 of Belgium's 42 stories about harm, carried by 55 outlets. Reports of people affected ran at about 6 times the usual rate (13 stories).
Tongatapu accounted for 97 of Tonga's 277 stories about harm, carried by 300 outlets. Reports of evacuations ran at about three times the usual rate (35 stories). Outbreaks were named in 26 of its stories about harm, about 8 times usual, with cholera.
19 of its 38 stories (50%) were about people being harmed, usually 28%. Reports of people injured ran at about 5 times the usual rate (5 stories).
126 of its 213 stories (59%) were about people being harmed, usually 48%. Reports of people affected ran at about twice the usual rate (10 stories).
78 of its 166 stories (47%) were about people being harmed, usually 37%. Reports of arrests ran at about twice the usual rate (13 stories).
122 of its 427 stories (29%) were about people being harmed, usually 22%. Reports of evacuations ran at more than ten times the usual rate (16 stories).
167 of its 283 stories (59%) were about people being harmed, usually 52%. Kabul accounted for 93 of Afghanistan's 167 stories about harm, carried by 196 outlets.
9 of its 10 stories (90%) were about people being harmed, usually 54%. Reports of people displaced ran at about 9 times the usual rate (5 stories).
Also named far more than usual: oil spill in Peru (19 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); illness in North Korea (10 of its stories, about 7 times its usual); volcanic eruption in Australia (20 of its stories, about 4 times its usual); landslides in UK (16 of its stories, about 7 times its usual); gas explosion in US (12 of its stories, about 9 times its usual).
Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 19 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 23,919 stories about harm among 90,039 counted on 19 Jan.
Help and hope: reports of people freed or reunited ran at about one and a half times the usual rate. In Syria, 80% of the news was about people being harmed, where 52% is usual. Stories about people being harmed made up 27 in every 100 of the day's 90,039 stories, below the usual 29. On 19 January 2021, a year earlier, the share was 27 in every 100, the same as today.
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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