We measure how the world's news covered people being harmed — and the help and hope within it.
51 of its 74 stories (69%) were about people being harmed, usually 38%. Havana accounted for 46 of Cuba's 51 stories about harm, carried by 161 outlets. Reports of people affected ran at more than ten times the usual rate (30 stories). Illness was named in 42 of its stories about harm, about 4 times usual.
25 of its 34 stories (74%) were about people being harmed, usually 39%. Minsk accounted for 21 of Belarus' 25 stories about harm, carried by 150 outlets. 20 of Minsk's 21 stories were about protests or strikes. Its coverage was about one and a half times as angry as the world's.
Tehran accounted for 64 of Iran's 87 stories about harm, carried by 82 outlets. Reports of people affected ran at about 5 times the usual rate (11 stories). Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's.
18 of its 37 stories (49%) were about people being harmed, usually 35%.
34 of its 77 stories (44%) were about people being harmed, usually 35%. 11 of Bangkok's 17 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of people affected ran at about three times the usual rate (7 stories). Grief in its coverage rose to about one and a half times its own usual.
14 of its 22 stories (64%) were about people being harmed, usually 13%. Reports of people killed ran at about twice the usual rate (8 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as grief-stricken as the world's.
89 of its 196 stories (45%) were about people being harmed, usually 30%. Seoul accounted for 74 of South Korea's 89 stories about harm, carried by 140 outlets. Reports of people killed ran at about three times the usual rate (55 stories).
Reports of people injured ran at about three times the usual rate (14 stories). Poisoning was named in 15 of its stories about harm, about 8 times usual. Grief in its coverage rose to about one and a half times its own usual.
Tigray accounted for 27 of Ethiopia's 33 stories about harm, carried by 100 outlets. Reports of people displaced ran at about twice the usual rate (13 stories). Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's.
46 of Paris' 73 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of people injured ran at about 4 times the usual rate (30 stories). Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's.
Also named far more than usual: house fires in Ireland (22 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); landslides in Romania (10 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); poisoning in China (15 of its stories, about 8 times its usual); drownings in Nigeria (11 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); polio in UK (19 of its stories, about 8 times its usual).
Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 6 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 12,161 stories about harm among 46,233 counted on 6 Dec.
Ireland's news mentioned house fires more than ten times as often as usual. 26 in every 100 of the day's 46,233 news stories were about people being harmed, as usual. On 7 December 2019, a year earlier, the share was 20 in every 100, against 26 today. Cuba stood out: 69% of its news was about people being harmed, usually 38%. This week the news turned most often to Sri Lanka, on 5 of 7 days; help rose on 3 of them.
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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