We measure how the world's news covered people being harmed — and the help and hope within it.
29 of its 46 stories (63%) were about people being harmed, usually 51%. Vienna accounted for 19 of Austria's 29 stories about harm, carried by 25 outlets. 17 of Vienna's 19 stories were about protests or strikes. Its coverage was about one and a half times as angry as the world's.
46 of its 81 stories (57%) were about people being harmed, usually 34%. Beirut accounted for 24 of Lebanon's 46 stories about harm, carried by 27 outlets. Reports of refugees ran at about 4 times the usual rate (17 stories).
17 of its 32 stories (53%) were about people being harmed, usually 28%. Reports of people injured ran at about twice the usual rate (6 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as grief-stricken as the world's.
13 of its 19 stories (68%) were about people being harmed, usually 39%. Reports of people affected ran at about three times the usual rate (6 stories).
84 of its 208 stories (40%) were about people being harmed, usually 29%. Reports of people injured ran at about 4 times the usual rate (38 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as grief-stricken as the world's.
29 of its 42 stories (69%) were about people being harmed, usually 53%. Reports of arrests ran at about three times the usual rate (5 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as angry as the world's.
128 of its 208 stories (62%) were about people being harmed, usually 54%. Kabul accounted for 77 of Afghanistan's 128 stories about harm, carried by 112 outlets. Reports of evacuations ran at about three times the usual rate (27 stories).
153 of its 512 stories (30%) were about people being harmed, usually 24%. Moscow accounted for 95 of Russia's 153 stories about harm, carried by 192 outlets. Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's.
11 of its 14 stories (79%) were about people being harmed, usually 27%. Its coverage was about one and a half times as fearful as the world's.
7 of its 9 stories (78%) were about people being harmed, usually 23%. Its coverage was about one and a half times as grief-stricken as the world's.
Also named far more than usual: tornadoes in US (747 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); helicopter crash in India (86 of its stories, about 6 times its usual); polio in Pakistan (22 of its stories, about 9 times its usual); storms in Canada (30 of its stories, about three times its usual); tsunami in UK (41 of its stories, more than ten times its usual).
Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 11 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 13,115 stories about harm among 48,209 counted on 11 Dec.
Mentions of tornadoes ran more than ten times their usual in the US's news. A year earlier, on 11 December 2020, 25 in every 100 stories were about people being harmed, against 27 today. Austria stood out: 63% of its news was about people being harmed, usually 51%. 27 in every 100 of the day's 48,209 news stories were about people being harmed, above the usual 25.
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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