We measure how the world's news covered people being harmed — and the help and hope within it.
32 of its 41 stories (78%) were about people being harmed, usually 24%. Kenieba accounted for 18 of Mali's 32 stories about harm, carried by 23 outlets. Reports of people injured ran at more than ten times the usual rate (26 stories). Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's.
98 of its 361 stories (27%) were about people being harmed, usually 16%. 31 of Athens' 43 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of people injured ran at about 7 times the usual rate (9 stories). Accidents were named in 13 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual.
264 of its 856 stories (31%) were about people being harmed, usually 25%. Reports of arrests ran at about three times the usual rate (103 stories). Drought was named in 10 of its stories about harm, about 5 times usual. Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's.
18 of its 66 stories (27%) were about people being harmed, usually 16%. Its coverage was about one and a half times as angry as the world's.
55 of its 155 stories (35%) were about people being harmed, usually 21%. 9 of Kampala's 16 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of people displaced ran at more than ten times the usual rate (5 stories).
22 of its 39 stories (56%) were about people being harmed, usually 37%. Dakar accounted for 12 of Senegal's 22 stories about harm, carried by 17 outlets. 8 of Dakar's 12 stories were about protests or strikes.
14 of its 30 stories (47%) were about people being harmed, usually 29%. 5 of Conakry's 6 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of people killed ran at about twice the usual rate (12 stories).
10 of its 16 stories (62%) were about people being harmed, usually 26%. Reports of people killed ran at about three times the usual rate (6 stories).
13 of its 45 stories (29%) were about people being harmed, usually 12%. Reports of people affected ran at about 5 times the usual rate (7 stories).
51 of its 169 stories (30%) were about people being harmed, usually 21%. 13 of Colombo's 20 stories were about protests or strikes.
Also named far more than usual: flu in Italy (39 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); tsunami in Japan (27 of its stories, about 4 times its usual); volcanic eruption in Mexico (14 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); wildfires in US (382 of its stories, about 4 times its usual); storms in Canada (33 of its stories, about 4 times its usual).
Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 28 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 21,566 stories about harm among 118,527 counted on 28 Feb.
Mali stood out: 78% of its news was about people being harmed, usually 24%. 18 in every 100 of the day's 118,527 news stories were about people being harmed, as usual. In Italy's news, mentions of the flu ran more than ten times their usual. On 28 February 2023, a year earlier, the share was 20 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.
Each country shaded by how much of its news was about people being harmed, against the world's 18 in 100 that day. Stronger colour: further above. A country with few stories is drawn closer to the world's. Click a country.
Stories, not people. Countries with at least 50 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 much 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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