We measure how the world's news covered people being harmed — and the help and hope within it.
1,027 of its 2,426 stories (42%) were about people being harmed, usually 37%. 414 of Ottawa's 465 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of evacuations ran at about 5 times the usual rate (10 stories). Heavy rain was named in 13 of its stories about harm, about 5 times usual. Its coverage was about one and a half times as angry as the world's.
80 of its 120 stories (67%) were about people being harmed, usually 36%. Lilongwe accounted for 45 of Malawi's 80 stories about harm, carried by 80 outlets. Polio was named in 50 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual. Its coverage was about one and a half times as fearful as the world's.
90 of its 197 stories (46%) were about people being harmed, usually 27%. Petropolis accounted for 66 of Brazil's 90 stories about harm, carried by 224 outlets. Reports of people displaced ran at about 6 times the usual rate (7 stories). Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's. Fear in its coverage rose to about one and a half times its own usual.
49 of its 71 stories (69%) were about people being harmed, usually 41%. Reports of people displaced ran at about three times the usual rate (7 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as fearful as the world's.
146 of its 269 stories (54%) were about people being harmed, usually 28%. Igoumenitsa accounted for 94 of Greece's 146 stories about harm, carried by 208 outlets. Reports of evacuations ran at more than ten times the usual rate (39 stories).
286 of its 835 stories (34%) were about people being harmed, usually 23%. Reports of people injured ran at about 5 times the usual rate (60 stories). Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's.
52 of its 139 stories (37%) were about people being harmed, usually 27%. Brussels accounted for 43 of Belgium's 52 stories about harm, carried by 40 outlets. Reports of people injured ran at about 5 times the usual rate (6 stories).
469 of its 1,954 stories (24%) were about people being harmed, usually 18%. Reports of evacuations ran at about 8 times the usual rate (26 stories). Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's.
Reports of people injured ran at about three times the usual rate (81 stories). Flu was named in 18 of its stories about harm, about 4 times usual, with bird flu. Fear in its coverage rose to about one and a half times its own usual.
76 of its 166 stories (46%) were about people being harmed, usually 22%. Reports of evacuations ran at more than ten times the usual rate (35 stories).
Also named far more than usual: storms in UK (371 of its stories, about 9 times its usual); polio in Pakistan (29 of its stories, about 8 times its usual); flooding in Ireland (47 of its stories, about 4 times its usual); malaria in Egypt (10 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); tuberculosis in South Africa (22 of its stories, about 9 times its usual).
Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 18 Feb. 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 20,116 stories about harm among 82,370 counted on 18 Feb.
Mentions of the polio ran more than ten times their usual in Malawi's news. of the day's 82,370 news stories, 24 in every 100 were about people being harmed, as usual. Reports of evacuations ran at about twice the usual rate, most often about Greece and Portugal. It was the second day running that the news turned to Canada. A year earlier, on 18 February 2021, 26 in every 100 stories were about people being harmed, against 24 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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