We measure how the world's news covered people being harmed — and the help and hope within it.
53 of its 66 stories (80%) were about people being harmed, usually 42%. Kivu accounted for 33 of Rwanda's 53 stories about harm, carried by 34 outlets. Reports of people displaced ran at about three times the usual rate (11 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as fearful as the world's.
Kremlin accounted for 299 of Russia's 527 stories about harm, carried by 394 outlets. Hunger was named in 11 of its stories about harm, about three times usual. Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's.
Santiago accounted for 34 of Chile's 43 stories about harm, carried by 123 outlets. Poisoning was named in 26 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual. Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's.
12 of its 26 stories (46%) were about people being harmed, usually 21%. 9 of Tirana's 10 stories were about protests or strikes.
87 of its 128 stories (68%) were about people being harmed, usually 60%. Damascus accounted for 70 of Syria's 87 stories about harm, carried by 185 outlets. Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's. Grief in its coverage rose to about one and a half times its own usual.
59 of its 210 stories (28%) were about people being harmed, usually 18%. Reports of people killed ran at about three times the usual rate (43 stories).
98 of its 466 stories (21%) were about people being harmed, usually 13%. 46 of Seoul's 56 stories were about protests or strikes.
40 of its 143 stories (28%) were about people being harmed, usually 18%. Reports of people killed ran at about three times the usual rate (12 stories).
Reports of people killed ran at about twice the usual rate (10 stories). Its coverage was about twice as fearful as the world's.
House fires were named in 11 of its stories about harm, about 6 times usual. Its coverage was about one and a half times as fearful as the world's.
Also named far more than usual: snowstorms in Kashmir (12 of its stories, about 4 times its usual); polio in Zimbabwe (11 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); natural hazards in Greece (10 of its stories, about 9 times its usual); natural hazards in Mexico (10 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); plague in Germany (11 of its stories, more than ten 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 19,923 stories about harm among 114,844 counted on 21 Feb.
In Chile's news, mentions of poisoning ran more than ten times their usual. Stories about people being harmed made up 17 in every 100 of the day's 114,844 stories, as usual. Rwanda's news was 80% about people being harmed, against a usual 42%. A year earlier, on 21 February 2023, 20 in every 100 stories were about people being harmed, against 17 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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