We measure how the world's news covered people being harmed — and the help and hope within it.
217 of its 239 stories (91%) were about people being harmed, usually 42%. Ouagadougou accounted for 183 of Burkina Faso's 217 stories about harm, carried by 185 outlets. 120 of Ouagadougou's 183 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of people injured ran at about 9 times the usual rate (15 stories). Malaria was named in 20 of its stories about harm, about three times usual. Its coverage was about three times as angry as the world's.
3,758 of its 4,441 stories (85%) were about people being harmed, usually 78%. Aleppo accounted for 3,387 of Syria's 3,758 stories about harm, carried by 1,583 outlets. Reports of evacuations ran at about 4 times the usual rate (1,179 stories). Natural hazards were named in 138 of its stories about harm, about 7 times usual. Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's.
217 of its 574 stories (38%) were about people being harmed, usually 17%. Reports of arrests ran at about 5 times the usual rate (91 stories). Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's.
258 of its 1,867 stories (14%) were about people being harmed, usually 8%. Reports of people injured ran at about twice the usual rate (25 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as warm as the world's.
79 of its 89 stories (89%) were about people being harmed, usually 13%. Montevideo accounted for 74 of Uruguay's 79 stories about harm, carried by 68 outlets. 66 of Montevideo's 74 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of arrests ran at more than ten times the usual rate (40 stories).
273 of its 590 stories (46%) were about people being harmed, usually 28%. Tehran accounted for 215 of Iran's 273 stories about harm, carried by 166 outlets. Reports of evacuations ran at about 7 times the usual rate (15 stories). Its coverage was about twice as fearful as the world's.
Cairo accounted for 239 of Egypt's 290 stories about harm, carried by 243 outlets. Reports of refugees ran at about twice the usual rate (6 stories). Plane crash was named in 14 of its stories about harm, about 5 times usual. Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's.
141 of its 295 stories (48%) were about people being harmed, usually 25%. 21 of Dar es Salaam's 37 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of arrests ran at more than ten times the usual rate (83 stories).
42 of its 81 stories (52%) were about people being harmed, usually 30%. 19 of Bamenda's 19 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of arrests ran at about 4 times the usual rate (17 stories).
11 of its 15 stories (73%) were about people being harmed, usually 28%. Cyclone was named in 11 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual. Its coverage was about one and a half times as fearful as the world's.
Also named far more than usual: hunger in Yemen (47 of its stories, about 7 times its usual); bird flu in South Korea (73 of its stories, about 6 times its usual); accidents in Iraq (80 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); measles in Romania (22 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); cyclone in Timor-Leste (11 of its stories, more than ten times its usual).
Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 16 Dec. 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 52,014 stories about harm among 252,337 counted on 16 Dec.
Help and hope: reports of peace efforts ran at about one and a half times the usual rate. of the day's 252,337 news stories, 21 in every 100 were about people being harmed, as usual. Reports of evacuations ran at about twice the usual rate, most often about Syria and France. Mentions of the hunger ran about 7 times their usual in Yemen's news. In Burkina Faso, 91% of the news was about people being harmed, where 42% is usual.
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?
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.