We measure how the world's news covered people being harmed — and the help and hope within it.
555 of its 2,398 stories (23%) were about people being harmed, usually 15%. Reports of evacuations ran at about 10 times the usual rate (103 stories). Landslides were named in 159 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual, with extreme cold, power cuts and snowstorms. Grief in its coverage rose to about one and a half times its own usual.
Tehran accounted for 87 of Iran's 155 stories about harm, carried by 84 outlets. 45 of Tehran's 87 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of people affected ran at about three times the usual rate (25 stories). Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's.
33 of its 55 stories (60%) were about people being harmed, usually 45%. Reports of people killed ran at about twice the usual rate (18 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as warm as the world's.
37 of its 50 stories (74%) were about people being harmed, usually 44%. Port-au-Prince accounted for 23 of Haiti's 37 stories about harm, carried by 42 outlets.
20 of its 47 stories (43%) were about people being harmed, usually 19%. 11 of Caracas' 14 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of arrests ran at about three times the usual rate (13 stories).
Reports of refugees ran at about twice the usual rate (88 stories). Building collapse was named in 12 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual. Its coverage was about three times as grief-stricken as the world's.
87 of its 256 stories (34%) were about people being harmed, usually 21%. Its coverage was about one and a half times as fearful as the world's. Anger in its coverage rose to about one and a half times its own usual.
366 of its 794 stories (46%) were about people being harmed, usually 37%. Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's.
17 of its 32 stories (53%) were about people being harmed, usually 35%. Reports of people affected ran at about twice the usual rate (7 stories).
17 of its 53 stories (32%) were about people being harmed, usually 21%. Reports of people injured ran at more than ten times the usual rate (7 stories).
Also named far more than usual: power cuts in Ireland (44 of its stories, about 5 times its usual); measles in UK (33 of its stories, about three times its usual); hurricane in Canada (16 of its stories, about 5 times its usual); flu in Australia (11 of its stories, about 4 times its usual); building collapse in Israel (12 of its stories, more than ten times its usual).
Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 23 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 19,936 stories about harm among 109,969 counted on 23 Jan.
The share of stories about people being harmed was the lowest since 15 December 2023. 18 in every 100 of the day's 109,969 news stories were about people being harmed, below the usual 20. For the second day running, the news turned to China. China stood out: 23% of its news was about people being harmed, usually 15%. A year earlier, on 23 January 2023, 19 in every 100 stories were about people being harmed, against 18 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 softer 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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