We measure how the world's news covered people being harmed — and the help and hope within it.
144 of its 185 stories (78%) were about people being harmed, usually 63%. Yangon accounted for 57 of Myanmar's 144 stories about harm, carried by 82 outlets. 54 of Yangon's 57 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of people injured ran at about twice the usual rate (36 stories). Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's.
142 of its 225 stories (63%) were about people being harmed, usually 41%. Reports of people displaced ran at more than ten times the usual rate (21 stories). Volcanic eruption was named in 80 of its stories about harm, about 4 times usual, with earthquake and avalanche. Anger in its coverage rose to about one and a half times its own usual.
19 of its 26 stories (73%) were about people being harmed, usually 42%. Reports of people displaced ran at about three times the usual rate (5 stories). Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's.
304 of its 965 stories (32%) were about people being harmed, usually 24%. Storms were named in 42 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual, with storm surge. Its coverage was about one and a half times as fearful as the world's.
54 of its 135 stories (40%) were about people being harmed, usually 28%. Brussels accounted for 45 of Belgium's 54 stories about harm, carried by 61 outlets. 29 of Brussels' 45 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of people injured ran at about 5 times the usual rate (12 stories).
224 of its 582 stories (38%) were about people being harmed, usually 33%. Reports of arrests ran at about 4 times the usual rate (83 stories). Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's.
73 of its 80 stories (91%) were about people being harmed, usually 61%. Martissant accounted for 42 of Haiti's 73 stories about harm, carried by 77 outlets.
47 of its 69 stories (68%) were about people being harmed, usually 49%. Its coverage was about three times as angry as the world's.
87 of its 173 stories (50%) were about people being harmed, usually 38%. Reports of people killed ran at about twice the usual rate (31 stories).
46 of its 175 stories (26%) were about people being harmed, usually 16%. Reports of people affected ran at about twice the usual rate (5 stories).
Also named far more than usual: storms in UK (101 of its stories, about 4 times its usual); respiratory illness in South Africa (17 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); meningitis in US (10 of its stories, about 4 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 19,672 stories about harm among 76,524 counted on 6 Dec.
For the second day running, the news turned to Myanmar. Stories about people being harmed made up 26 in every 100 of the day's 76,524 stories, as usual. Myanmar's news was 78% about people being harmed, against a usual 63%. On 6 December 2020, a year earlier, the share was 26 in every 100, the same as 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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