We measure how the world's news covered people being harmed — and the help and hope within it.
255 of its 443 stories (58%) were about people being harmed, usually 23%. Nairobi accounted for 232 of Kenya's 255 stories about harm, carried by 461 outlets. Reports of evacuations ran at more than ten times the usual rate (29 stories). Gas explosion was named in 103 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual, with earthquake.
69 of its 102 stories (68%) were about people being harmed, usually 55%. Baghdad accounted for 32 of Iraq's 69 stories about harm, carried by 212 outlets. Reports of abductions ran at about 7 times the usual rate (9 stories). Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's.
104 of its 333 stories (31%) were about people being harmed, usually 21%. Reports of refugees ran at more than ten times the usual rate (25 stories). Road crashes were named in 31 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual.
24 of its 33 stories (73%) were about people being harmed, usually 54%. 5 of Yangon's 5 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of people displaced ran at about twice the usual rate (7 stories).
46 of its 147 stories (31%) were about people being harmed, usually 17%. Reports of people affected ran at about 5 times the usual rate (18 stories). Storms were named in 12 of its stories about harm, about 4 times usual, with power cuts and avalanche.
64 of its 96 stories (67%) were about people being harmed, usually 59%. Damascus accounted for 28 of Syria's 64 stories about harm, carried by 35 outlets. Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's.
Reports of evacuations ran at about 6 times the usual rate (11 stories). Landslides were named in 17 of its stories about harm, about three times usual, with heavy rain. Its coverage was about one and a half times as fearful as the world's.
115 of its 251 stories (46%) were about people being harmed, usually 30%. Reports of abductions ran at more than ten times the usual rate (30 stories).
13 of its 19 stories (68%) were about people being harmed, usually 46%. Its coverage was about one and a half times as grief-stricken as the world's.
Tehran accounted for 124 of Iran's 227 stories about harm, carried by 141 outlets. Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's.
Also named far more than usual: hunger in Sudan (18 of its stories, about 7 times its usual); illness in Yemen (12 of its stories, about 8 times its usual); drought in Spain (16 of its stories, about 5 times its usual); storms in Norway (12 of its stories, about 4 times its usual); landslides in Philippines (17 of its stories, about three times its usual).
Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 2 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 19,131 stories about harm among 106,070 counted on 2 Feb.
Mentions of gas explosion ran more than ten times their usual in Kenya's news. of the day's 106,070 news stories, 18 in every 100 were about people being harmed, as usual. Kenya stood out: 58% of its news was about people being harmed, usually 23%. On 2 February 2023, a year earlier, the share was 19 in every 100, 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 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?
Unlock a year of trends, free. Follow up to 5 countries, with a bell when their news changes, and 👍 vote for Pro — ten years of the archive, any period, daily alerts.
Create a free accountSign in · a username, an email and a password.