We measure how the world's news covered people being harmed — and the help and hope within it.
81 of its 221 stories (37%) were about people being harmed, usually 24%. Nairobi accounted for 54 of Kenya's 81 stories about harm, carried by 181 outlets. 46 of Nairobi's 54 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of arrests ran at about 7 times the usual rate (22 stories).
47 of its 60 stories (78%) were about people being harmed, usually 68%. Mogadishu accounted for 20 of Somalia's 47 stories about harm, carried by 20 outlets. Hunger was named in 33 of its stories about harm, about 4 times usual, with cholera. Its coverage was about three times as grief-stricken as the world's.
45 of its 63 stories (71%) were about people being harmed, usually 43%. Reports of abductions ran at about 9 times the usual rate (9 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as warm as the world's.
17 of its 42 stories (40%) were about people being harmed, usually 22%. Reports of arrests ran at about 4 times the usual rate (7 stories).
33 of its 42 stories (79%) were about people being harmed, usually 51%. Guayaquil accounted for 20 of Ecuador's 33 stories about harm, carried by 24 outlets. Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's.
14 of its 17 stories (82%) were about people being harmed, usually 39%. Reports of people injured ran at about 5 times the usual rate (11 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as angry as the world's.
171 of its 668 stories (26%) were about people being harmed, usually 16%. 63 of Paris' 116 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of arrests ran at about three times the usual rate (51 stories).
267 of its 751 stories (36%) were about people being harmed, usually 27%. 68 of Johannesburg's 87 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of arrests ran at about three times the usual rate (86 stories).
74 of its 99 stories (75%) were about people being harmed, usually 64%. Damascus accounted for 33 of Syria's 74 stories about harm, carried by 45 outlets. Flooding was named in 15 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual.
141 of its 290 stories (49%) were about people being harmed, usually 42%. Baghdad accounted for 86 of Iraq's 141 stories about harm, carried by 173 outlets. Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's.
Also named far more than usual: storms in Switzerland (21 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); covid in Finland (11 of its stories, about 4 times its usual); flooding in Syria (15 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); drought in Australia (21 of its stories, about 5 times its usual); heavy rain in Philippines (11 of its stories, about three times its usual).
Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 20 Mar. 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 12,951 stories about harm among 67,934 counted on 20 Mar.
Somalia's news mentioned the hunger about 4 times as often as usual. 19 in every 100 of the day's 67,934 news stories were about people being harmed, as usual. On 20 March 2022, a year earlier, the share was 23 in every 100, against 19 today. Kenya stood out: 37% of its news was about people being harmed, usually 24%.
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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