We measure how the world's news covered people being harmed — and the help and hope within it.
84 of its 158 stories (53%) were about people being harmed, usually 35%. Tsim Sha Tsui accounted for 64 of Hong Kong's 84 stories about harm, carried by 198 outlets. 62 of Tsim Sha Tsui's 64 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of arrests ran at about twice the usual rate (44 stories). Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's.
250 of its 530 stories (47%) were about people being harmed, usually 26%. Riyadh accounted for 164 of Saudi Arabia's 250 stories about harm, carried by 263 outlets. Reports of arrests ran at about 4 times the usual rate (107 stories). Its coverage was about three times as grief-stricken as the world's.
40 of its 134 stories (30%) were about people being harmed, usually 17%. Reports of people killed ran at about three times the usual rate (24 stories). Heatstroke was named in 25 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual. Its coverage was about one and a half times as grief-stricken as the world's.
173 of its 248 stories (70%) were about people being harmed, usually 60%. Idlib accounted for 117 of Syria's 173 stories about harm, carried by 271 outlets. Flooding was named in 13 of its stories about harm, about three times usual. Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's.
19 of its 27 stories (70%) were about people being harmed, usually 15%. Abidjan accounted for 17 of Côte d’Ivoire's 19 stories about harm, carried by 67 outlets. 12 of Abidjan's 17 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of arrests ran at more than ten times the usual rate (5 stories).
151 of its 264 stories (57%) were about people being harmed, usually 24%. Reports of people injured ran at more than ten times the usual rate (89 stories). Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's.
188 of its 406 stories (46%) were about people being harmed, usually 26%. Reports of people displaced ran at about three times the usual rate (7 stories). Tropical storm was named in 44 of its stories about harm, about 9 times usual, with cyclone, storms and landslides.
29 of its 58 stories (50%) were about people being harmed, usually 23%. Cyclone was named in 16 of its stories about harm, about 9 times usual, with heavy rain. Its coverage was about one and a half times as fearful as the world's.
20 of its 27 stories (74%) were about people being harmed, usually 39%. Reports of abductions ran at about twice the usual rate (5 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as angry as the world's.
160 of Delhi's 302 stories were about protests or strikes. Landslides were named in 28 of its stories about harm, about 7 times usual, with extreme cold. Its coverage was about one and a half times as angry as the world's.
Also named far more than usual: cyclone in Fiji (16 of its stories, about 9 times its usual); tropical storm in Philippines (44 of its stories, about 9 times its usual); oil spill in Ecuador (11 of its stories, about 7 times its usual); road crashes in UK (80 of its stories, about 5 times its usual); tsunami in Canada (22 of its stories, more than ten times its usual).
Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 24 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 14,958 stories about harm among 81,381 counted on 24 Dec.
Reports of volunteers, a sign of help, ran at about one and a half times the usual rate. 18 in every 100 of the day's 81,381 news stories were about people being harmed, as usual. In Hong Kong, 53% of the news was about people being harmed, where 35% is usual. A year earlier, on 24 December 2018, 20 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 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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