We measure how the world's news covered people being harmed — and the help and hope within it.
81 of its 89 stories (91%) were about people being harmed, usually 63%. Port-au-Prince accounted for 27 of Haiti's 81 stories about harm, carried by 82 outlets. Reports of evacuations ran at more than ten times the usual rate (6 stories). Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's.
183 of its 447 stories (41%) were about people being harmed, usually 28%. Kuala Lumpur accounted for 100 of Malaysia's 183 stories about harm, carried by 70 outlets. Reports of people affected ran at about 4 times the usual rate (36 stories). Anger in its coverage rose to about one and a half times its own usual.
37 of its 48 stories (77%) were about people being harmed, usually 66%. 9 of Yangon's 13 stories were about protests or strikes. Its coverage was about one and a half times as angry as the world's.
30 of its 74 stories (41%) were about people being harmed, usually 32%. Reports of people injured ran at about twice the usual rate (5 stories). Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's.
268 of its 831 stories (32%) were about people being harmed, usually 24%. Reports of refugees ran at about three times the usual rate (6 stories). Heatwave was named in 11 of its stories about harm, about 10 times usual. Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's.
Dhaka accounted for 65 of Bangladesh's 106 stories about harm, carried by 46 outlets. Reports of refugees ran at about twice the usual rate (8 stories). Outbreaks were named in 30 of its stories about harm, about 8 times usual. Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's.
121 of its 240 stories (50%) were about people being harmed, usually 33%. Causeway Bay accounted for 73 of Hong Kong's 121 stories about harm, carried by 210 outlets. Reports of evacuations ran at more than ten times the usual rate (37 stories).
Reports of evacuations ran at more than ten times the usual rate (7 stories). Flooding was named in 23 of its stories about harm, about 5 times usual, with heavy rain and storms. Anger in its coverage rose to about one and a half times its own usual.
79 of its 242 stories (33%) were about people being harmed, usually 21%. Its coverage was about one and a half times as fearful as the world's.
57 of its 92 stories (62%) were about people being harmed, usually 50%. Its coverage was about three times as fearful as the world's.
Also named far more than usual: outbreaks in Bangladesh (30 of its stories, about 8 times its usual); typhoon in Philippines (66 of its stories, about 8 times its usual); volcanic eruption in Spain (22 of its stories, about three times its usual); flooding in New Zealand (23 of its stories, about 5 times its usual); tornadoes in US (778 of its stories, about 4 times its usual).
Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 15 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 23,460 stories about harm among 89,291 counted on 15 Dec.
For the second day running, the news turned to Haiti. Stories about people being harmed made up 26 in every 100 of the day's 89,291 stories, as usual. Mentions of outbreaks ran about 8 times their usual in Bangladesh's news. In Haiti, 91% of the news was about people being harmed, where 63% is usual. On 15 December 2020, a year earlier, the share was 25 in every 100, against 26 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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