We measure how the world's news covered people being harmed — and the help and hope within it.
73 of its 166 stories (44%) were about people being harmed, usually 32%. Sao Paulo accounted for 41 of Brazil's 73 stories about harm, carried by 79 outlets. Reports of people affected ran at about three times the usual rate (35 stories). Landslides were named in 38 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual, with flooding and heavy rain. Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's.
37 of its 60 stories (62%) were about people being harmed, usually 48%. Ayia Napa accounted for 21 of Cyprus' 37 stories about harm, carried by 117 outlets. Reports of arrests ran at more than ten times the usual rate (8 stories). Anger in its coverage rose to about twice its own usual.
84 of its 166 stories (51%) were about people being harmed, usually 42%. Dhaka accounted for 45 of Bangladesh's 84 stories about harm, carried by 22 outlets. Its coverage was about three times as grief-stricken as the world's.
60 of its 74 stories (81%) were about people being harmed, usually 63%. 7 of Yangon's 13 stories were about protests or strikes.
Kabul accounted for 106 of Afghanistan's 152 stories about harm, carried by 327 outlets. Reports of arrests ran at about three times the usual rate (23 stories). Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's.
12 of its 39 stories (31%) were about people being harmed, usually 15%. Reports of people affected ran at about 4 times the usual rate (5 stories).
44 of its 99 stories (44%) were about people being harmed, usually 35%. Reports of people affected ran at about twice the usual rate (7 stories).
Reports of people affected ran at about three times the usual rate (14 stories). Cyclone was named in 10 of its stories about harm, about 4 times usual.
Reports of people injured ran at about 5 times the usual rate (8 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as fearful as the world's.
Khartoum accounted for 21 of Sudan's 25 stories about harm, carried by 19 outlets. 19 of Khartoum's 21 stories were about protests or strikes.
Also named far more than usual: illness in Jordan (14 of its stories, about 4 times its usual); cyclone in Malawi (10 of its stories, about 4 times its usual); power cuts in UK (61 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); heavy rain in India (45 of its stories, about 7 times its usual); cyclone in US (50 of its stories, about three times its usual).
Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 31 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 18,636 stories about harm among 74,714 counted on 31 Jan.
Mentions of landslides ran more than ten times their usual in Brazil's news. People falling ill were reported at about twice the usual rate, most often about the US and the UK. A year earlier, on 31 January 2021, 28 in every 100 stories were about people being harmed, against 25 today. 25 in every 100 of the day's 74,714 news stories were about people being harmed, below the usual 27.
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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