We measure how the world's news covered people being harmed — and the help and hope within it.
71 of its 77 stories (92%) were about people being harmed, usually 34%. Niamey accounted for 31 of Niger's 71 stories about harm, carried by 54 outlets. Reports of people injured ran at about 8 times the usual rate (39 stories). Its coverage was about three times as angry as the world's.
563 of its 1,253 stories (45%) were about people being harmed, usually 24%. White Island accounted for 307 of New Zealand's 563 stories about harm, carried by 720 outlets. Reports of evacuations ran at about 8 times the usual rate (49 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as fearful as the world's.
296 of its 841 stories (35%) were about people being harmed, usually 25%. 73 of Lahore's 118 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of people killed ran at about twice the usual rate (109 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as fearful as the world's. Anger in its coverage rose to about one and a half times its own usual.
13 of its 25 stories (52%) were about people being harmed, usually 31%. Ebola was named in 11 of its stories about harm, about 4 times usual.
37 of its 47 stories (79%) were about people being harmed, usually 47%. Reports of refugees ran at about three times the usual rate (9 stories). Hunger was named in 14 of its stories about harm, about 6 times usual, with drought.
48 of its 142 stories (34%) were about people being harmed, usually 15%. Reports of people killed ran at about 4 times the usual rate (36 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as grief-stricken as the world's. Anger in its coverage rose to about one and a half times its own usual.
37 of its 55 stories (67%) were about people being harmed, usually 42%. 8 of Yangon's 10 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of people displaced ran at about twice the usual rate (5 stories).
106 of its 208 stories (51%) were about people being harmed, usually 37%. Reports of people affected ran at about three times the usual rate (42 stories). Storms were named in 16 of its stories about harm, about 6 times usual, with extreme cold.
48 of its 174 stories (28%) were about people being harmed, usually 16%. Reports of people killed ran at about three times the usual rate (15 stories). Its coverage was about three times as grief-stricken as the world's.
Mogadishu accounted for 20 of Somalia's 25 stories about harm, carried by 20 outlets. 10 of Mogadishu's 20 stories were about protests or strikes. Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's.
Also named far more than usual: drownings in Algeria (16 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); hunger in South Sudan (14 of its stories, about 6 times its usual); volcanic eruption in Australia (100 of its stories, about 8 times its usual); storms in Chile (16 of its stories, about 6 times its usual); malaria in Uganda (10 of its stories, about 4 times its usual).
Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 12 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 20,645 stories about harm among 121,133 counted on 12 Dec.
Niger stood out: 92% of its news was about people being harmed, usually 34%. 17 in every 100 of the day's 121,133 news stories were about people being harmed, as usual. In Sierra Leone's news, mentions of Ebola ran about 4 times their usual. A year earlier, on 12 December 2018, 18 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 about as 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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