We measure how the world's news covered people being harmed — and the help and hope within it.
600 of its 2,071 stories (29%) were about people being harmed, usually 19%. Moscow accounted for 398 of Russia's 600 stories about harm, carried by 640 outlets. Reports of evacuations ran at about three times the usual rate (24 stories). Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's.
30 of its 56 stories (54%) were about people being harmed, usually 35%. Kathmandu accounted for 22 of Nepal's 30 stories about harm, carried by 37 outlets. 11 of Kathmandu's 22 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of people injured ran at about 5 times the usual rate (5 stories).
57 of its 146 stories (39%) were about people being harmed, usually 28%. Petropolis accounted for 39 of Brazil's 57 stories about harm, carried by 145 outlets. Reports of evacuations ran at about 7 times the usual rate (8 stories). Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's.
1,834 of its 5,599 stories (33%) were about people being harmed, usually 27%. Reports of people displaced ran at about 6 times the usual rate (8 stories). Flooding was named in 209 of its stories about harm, about 4 times usual, with power cuts, flu and tornadoes. Its coverage was about one and a half times as fearful as the world's.
Ottawa accounted for 262 of Canada's 496 stories about harm, carried by 278 outlets. 238 of Ottawa's 262 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of arrests ran at about three times the usual rate (151 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as angry as the world's.
29 of its 37 stories (78%) were about people being harmed, usually 27%. Reports of people killed ran at about three times the usual rate (18 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as grief-stricken as the world's. Anger in its coverage rose to about one and a half times its own usual.
18 of its 26 stories (69%) were about people being harmed, usually 35%. Tbilisi accounted for 15 of Georgia's 18 stories about harm, carried by 16 outlets. 11 of Tbilisi's 15 stories were about protests or strikes.
21 of its 33 stories (64%) were about people being harmed, usually 51%. Reports of people displaced ran at about twice the usual rate (7 stories). Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's.
23 of its 40 stories (58%) were about people being harmed, usually 39%. Reports of people affected ran at about twice the usual rate (6 stories).
72 of its 212 stories (34%) were about people being harmed, usually 27%. Reports of people affected ran at about three times the usual rate (12 stories).
Also named far more than usual: power cuts in Ireland (33 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); natural hazards in Italy (12 of its stories, about 8 times its usual); earthquake in Philippines (10 of its stories, about three times its usual); bird flu in US (37 of its stories, about 4 times its usual).
Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 21 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 16,021 stories about harm among 65,693 counted on 21 Feb.
Help and hope: reports of peace efforts ran at about one and a half times the usual rate. of the day's 65,693 news stories, 24 in every 100 were about people being harmed, as usual. Ireland's news mentioned power cuts more than ten times as often as usual. A year earlier, on 21 February 2021, 29 in every 100 stories were about people being harmed, against 24 today. In Russia, 29% of the news was about people being harmed, where 19% is usual.
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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