We measure how the world's news covered people being harmed — and the help and hope within it.
117 of its 275 stories (43%) were about people being harmed, usually 20%. Ravanusa accounted for 52 of Italy's 117 stories about harm, carried by 182 outlets. Reports of people displaced ran at more than ten times the usual rate (10 stories). Gas explosion was named in 29 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual, with building collapse. Its coverage was about one and a half times as grief-stricken as the world's.
65 of its 95 stories (68%) were about people being harmed, usually 52%. Vienna accounted for 54 of Austria's 65 stories about harm, carried by 179 outlets. 46 of Vienna's 54 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of arrests ran at about three times the usual rate (12 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as angry as the world's.
40 of its 60 stories (67%) were about people being harmed, usually 50%. Reports of people injured ran at about twice the usual rate (12 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as grief-stricken as the world's.
79 of its 323 stories (24%) were about people being harmed, usually 15%. Reports of people killed ran at about three times the usual rate (17 stories). Earthquake was named in 17 of its stories about harm, about 4 times usual, with tsunami and outbreaks.
1,064 of its 2,960 stories (36%) were about people being harmed, usually 29%. Tsunami was named in 17 of its stories about harm, about 4 times usual. Its coverage was about one and a half times as fearful as the world's.
31 of its 67 stories (46%) were about people being harmed, usually 35%. Reports of people injured ran at about three times the usual rate (10 stories). Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's.
8 of its 11 stories (73%) were about people being harmed, usually 29%. Reports of people injured ran at about 5 times the usual rate (6 stories).
20 of its 36 stories (56%) were about people being harmed, usually 38%. Noumea accounted for 20 of New Caledonia's 20 stories about harm, carried by 183 outlets.
87 of its 241 stories (36%) were about people being harmed, usually 29%. Its coverage was about one and a half times as grief-stricken as the world's.
30 of its 76 stories (39%) were about people being harmed, usually 30%. Reports of people affected ran at about twice the usual rate (6 stories).
Also named far more than usual: tornadoes in US (789 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); volcanic eruption in Spain (10 of its stories, about three times its usual); storms in Canada (28 of its stories, about 4 times its usual); outbreaks in France (12 of its stories, about 4 times its usual); polio in Pakistan (15 of its stories, about 6 times its usual).
Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 12 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 11,081 stories about harm among 41,091 counted on 12 Dec.
In Italy, 43% of the news was about people being harmed, where 20% is usual. Stories about people being harmed made up 27 in every 100 of the day's 41,091 stories, above the usual 26. A year earlier, on 12 December 2020, 27 in every 100 stories were about people being harmed, the same as today. This week the news turned most often to Myanmar, on 3 of 7 days.
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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