How are the most basic of human necessities, food and water, covered in the news? The timeline below shows intensity of mentions by daily over the past half-decade, showing a a rise from March each year through a peak in July, then a descent through October-November. No major shift is observed around the Covid-19 pandemic.

In contrast, food does not show the same seasonality, but does show a vertical surge from March 12, 2020 as pandemic lockdowns spread across the world and concern grew over access to food. A second surge occurred in March of this year as inflation, crop failures, famine and other factors led to a surge in attention to food access.