We measure how the world's news covered people being harmed — and the help and hope within it.
32 of its 51 stories (63%) were about people being harmed, usually 28%. Zagreb accounted for 30 of Croatia's 32 stories about harm, carried by 91 outlets. Reports of people injured ran at more than ten times the usual rate (16 stories). Earthquake was named in 27 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.
184 of its 332 stories (55%) were about people being harmed, usually 32%. 59 of Riyadh's 79 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of arrests ran at more than ten times the usual rate (76 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as fearful as the world's.
101 of its 130 stories (78%) were about people being harmed, usually 62%. Tigray accounted for 78 of Ethiopia's 101 stories about harm, carried by 131 outlets. Reports of abductions ran at more than ten times the usual rate (6 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as angry as the world's.
184 of its 406 stories (45%) were about people being harmed, usually 35%. Jerusalem accounted for 112 of Israel's 184 stories about harm, carried by 60 outlets. Reports of refugees ran at about 5 times the usual rate (15 stories). Grief in its coverage rose to about one and a half times its own usual.
98 of its 170 stories (58%) were about people being harmed, usually 50%. Tehran accounted for 50 of Iran's 98 stories about harm, carried by 96 outlets. Reports of people affected ran at about 4 times the usual rate (16 stories). Avalanche was named in 16 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual.
41 of its 65 stories (63%) were about people being harmed, usually 37%. Reports of people affected ran at about twice the usual rate (8 stories). Earthquake was named in 25 of its stories about harm, about 4 times usual, with tsunami.
271 of its 708 stories (38%) were about people being harmed, usually 27%. Reports of people affected ran at about 5 times the usual rate (57 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as grief-stricken as the world's.
11 of its 24 stories (46%) were about people being harmed, usually 14%. Reports of arrests ran at more than ten times the usual rate (6 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as fearful as the world's.
33 of its 48 stories (69%) were about people being harmed, usually 50%. Reports of people injured ran at about three times the usual rate (10 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as grief-stricken as the world's.
49 of its 118 stories (42%) were about people being harmed, usually 32%. Reports of arrests ran at about twice the usual rate (15 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as fearful as the world's.
Also named far more than usual: earthquake in Chile (25 of its stories, about 4 times its usual); flooding in Bangladesh (17 of its stories, about 4 times its usual); avalanche in Iran (16 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); respiratory illness in China (45 of its stories, about 4 times its usual); power cuts in Ireland (13 of its stories, more than ten times its usual).
Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 28 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 18,320 stories about harm among 63,938 counted on 28 Dec.
Mentions of the earthquake ran more than ten times their usual in Croatia's news. of the day's 63,938 news stories, 29 in every 100 were about people being harmed, above the usual 26. Evacuations were reported at about three times the usual rate, most often about the US and Australia. Croatia's news was 63% about people being harmed, against a usual 28%. On 29 December 2019, a year earlier, the share was 22 in every 100, against 29 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 much harsher 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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