We measure how the world's news covered people being harmed — and the help and hope within it.
949 of its 1,626 stories (58%) were about people being harmed, usually 18%. White Island accounted for 680 of New Zealand's 949 stories about harm, carried by 1,431 outlets. Reports of evacuations ran at more than ten times the usual rate (41 stories). Landslides were named in 125 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual.
146 of its 196 stories (74%) were about people being harmed, usually 66%. Baghdad accounted for 105 of Iraq's 146 stories about harm, carried by 153 outlets. 59 of Baghdad's 105 stories were about protests or strikes. Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's.
249 of its 611 stories (41%) were about people being harmed, usually 20%. Reports of people injured ran at about 4 times the usual rate (106 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as angry as the world's.
65 of its 71 stories (92%) were about people being harmed, usually 76%. Reports of people affected ran at about twice the usual rate (23 stories). Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's.
54 of its 134 stories (40%) were about people being harmed, usually 33%. Reports of people displaced ran at about 4 times the usual rate (9 stories). Heavy rain was named in 16 of its stories about harm, about 6 times usual, with landslides.
Reports of refugees ran at about 9 times the usual rate (43 stories). Nipah virus was named in 12 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual. Its coverage was about one and a half times as angry as the world's.
Hong Kong Island accounted for 73 of Hong Kong's 113 stories about harm, carried by 99 outlets. 68 of Hong Kong Island's 73 stories were about protests or strikes. Its coverage was about one and a half times as angry as the world's.
Kabul accounted for 66 of Afghanistan's 186 stories about harm, carried by 104 outlets. Reports of people affected ran at about twice the usual rate (22 stories). Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's.
21 of its 39 stories (54%) were about people being harmed, usually 9%. Train derailment was named in 16 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual.
11 of its 16 stories (69%) were about people being harmed, usually 17%. Cyclone was named in 11 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual.
Also named far more than usual: polio in Malaysia (47 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); train derailment in Guernsey (16 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); ebola in Rwanda (16 of its stories, about 5 times its usual); cyclone in Madagascar (11 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); heavy rain in Uganda (16 of its stories, about 6 times its usual).
Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 9 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 18,583 stories about harm among 104,879 counted on 9 Dec.
New Zealand stood out: 58% of its news was about people being harmed, usually 18%. 18 in every 100 of the day's 104,879 news stories were about people being harmed, as usual. A year earlier, on 9 December 2018, 19 in every 100 stories were about people being harmed, 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 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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