We measure how the world's news covered people being harmed — and the help and hope within it.
449 of its 679 stories (66%) were about people being harmed, usually 46%. Philippine accounted for 186 of the Philippines' 449 stories about harm, carried by 128 outlets. Reports of people displaced ran at more than ten times the usual rate (50 stories). Typhoon was named in 338 of its stories about harm, about 6 times usual, with flooding, landslides and power cuts. Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's.
135 of its 371 stories (36%) were about people being harmed, usually 22%. Reports of arrests ran at about 6 times the usual rate (8 stories). Outbreaks were named in 44 of its stories about harm, about 8 times usual. Its coverage was about one and a half times as fearful as the world's.
Khartoum accounted for 43 of Sudan's 51 stories about harm, carried by 59 outlets. 39 of Khartoum's 43 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of people injured ran at about twice the usual rate (25 stories). Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's. Fear in its coverage rose to about one and a half times its own usual.
8 of its 11 stories (73%) were about people being harmed, usually 33%. Its coverage was about one and a half times as grief-stricken as the world's.
218 of its 399 stories (55%) were about people being harmed, usually 31%. Kuala Lumpur accounted for 135 of Malaysia's 218 stories about harm, carried by 74 outlets. Reports of people displaced ran at more than ten times the usual rate (23 stories). Flooding was named in 133 of its stories about harm, about 9 times usual, with heavy rain and drownings.
Reports of abductions ran at more than ten times the usual rate (24 stories). Hypothermia was named in 11 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual. Anger in its coverage rose to about one and a half times its own usual.
Reports of people displaced ran at about 5 times the usual rate (5 stories). Hunger was named in 12 of its stories about harm, about 10 times usual. Its coverage was about one and a half times as fearful as the world's.
43 of its 113 stories (38%) were about people being harmed, usually 23%. Its coverage was about one and a half times as fearful as the world's.
73 of its 188 stories (39%) were about people being harmed, usually 26%. Reports of arrests ran at about 4 times the usual rate (13 stories).
29 of its 42 stories (69%) were about people being harmed, usually 48%. Reports of people injured ran at about 6 times the usual rate (5 stories).
Also named far more than usual: flooding in Malaysia (133 of its stories, about 9 times its usual); hunger in Somalia (12 of its stories, about 10 times its usual); power cuts in Australia (19 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); hypothermia in Ireland (11 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); poisoning in India (19 of its stories, about 7 times its usual).
Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 20 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 18,841 stories about harm among 70,670 counted on 20 Dec.
27 in every 100 of the day's 70,670 news stories were about people being harmed, as usual. On 20 December 2020, a year earlier, the share was 28 in every 100, against 27 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 much 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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