We measure how the world's news covered people being harmed — and the help and hope within it.
36 of its 55 stories (65%) were about people being harmed, usually 46%. Bandiagara accounted for 23 of Mali's 36 stories about harm, carried by 39 outlets. Reports of people injured ran at about three times the usual rate (20 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as warm as the world's.
27 of its 28 stories (96%) were about people being harmed, usually 72%. 8 of Ouagadougou's 9 stories were about protests or strikes. Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's.
577 of its 1,078 stories (54%) were about people being harmed, usually 47%. Flu was named in 28 of its stories about harm, about three times usual. Its coverage was about one and a half times as fearful as the world's.
12 of its 14 stories (86%) were about people being harmed, usually 51%. Reports of people injured ran at about three times the usual rate (5 stories).
24 of its 35 stories (69%) were about people being harmed, usually 42%. Reports of people displaced ran at about twice the usual rate (5 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as angry as the world's.
Reports of people killed ran at about three times the usual rate (96 stories). Natural hazards were named in 10 of its stories about harm, about 7 times usual. Grief in its coverage rose to about one and a half times its own usual.
316 of its 641 stories (49%) were about people being harmed, usually 43%. Anger in its coverage rose to about one and a half times its own usual.
Baghdad accounted for 30 of Iraq's 65 stories about harm, carried by 44 outlets. Its coverage was about one and a half times as fearful as the world's.
Tunis accounted for 28 of Tunisia's 34 stories about harm, carried by 10 outlets. Reports of people injured ran at more than ten times the usual rate (11 stories).
Bird flu was named in 38 of its stories about harm, about 4 times usual. Its coverage was about one and a half times as fearful as the world's.
Also named far more than usual: helicopter crash in India (268 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); earthquake in Japan (22 of its stories, about three times its usual); natural hazards in New Zealand (10 of its stories, about 7 times its usual); bird flu in UK (38 of its stories, about 4 times its usual); snowstorms in US (118 of its stories, about three times its usual).
Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 9 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 22,591 stories about harm among 90,287 counted on 9 Dec.
For the second day running, the news turned to Mali. Stories about people being harmed made up 25 in every 100 of the day's 90,287 stories, as usual. Mali's news was 65% about people being harmed, against a usual 46%. A year earlier, on 9 December 2020, 25 in every 100 stories were about people being harmed, 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 softer 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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