We measure how the world's news covered people being harmed — and the help and hope within it.
219 of its 445 stories (49%) were about people being harmed, usually 32%. Kuala Lumpur accounted for 152 of Malaysia's 219 stories about harm, carried by 95 outlets. Reports of people displaced ran at more than ten times the usual rate (23 stories). Flooding was named in 142 of its stories about harm, about 6 times usual, with heavy rain.
Khartoum accounted for 29 of Sudan's 47 stories about harm, carried by 46 outlets. 27 of Khartoum's 29 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of people injured ran at about twice the usual rate (27 stories). Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's.
27 of its 31 stories (87%) were about people being harmed, usually 35%. Oecusse accounted for 23 of Timor-Leste's 27 stories about harm, carried by 82 outlets. Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's.
60 of its 156 stories (38%) were about people being harmed, usually 23%. Reports of people affected ran at about twice the usual rate (6 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as fearful as the world's.
41 of its 86 stories (48%) were about people being harmed, usually 24%. Reports of people killed ran at about 4 times the usual rate (29 stories). Drownings were named in 21 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual. Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's.
137 of its 393 stories (35%) were about people being harmed, usually 23%. Reports of people killed ran at about three times the usual rate (34 stories). Flu was named in 13 of its stories about harm, about 9 times usual, with tuberculosis.
368 of its 630 stories (58%) were about people being harmed, usually 47%. Reports of people displaced ran at about 7 times the usual rate (30 stories). Typhoon was named in 261 of its stories about harm, about 4 times usual.
9 of its 14 stories (64%) were about people being harmed, usually 34%. 6 of Santa Catarina Ixtahuacan's 6 stories were about protests or strikes. Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's.
46 of its 74 stories (62%) were about people being harmed, usually 53%. Sanaa accounted for 30 of Yemen's 46 stories about harm, carried by 63 outlets. Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's.
19 of its 25 stories (76%) were about people being harmed, usually 35%. Reports of people affected ran at about 6 times the usual rate (14 stories).
Also named far more than usual: typhoon in Philippines (261 of its stories, about 4 times its usual); drownings in Libya (21 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); flu in Switzerland (13 of its stories, about 9 times its usual); power cuts in South Africa (11 of its stories, about 9 times its usual); power cuts in Australia (13 of its stories, about 6 times its usual).
Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 21 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 21,937 stories about harm among 80,569 counted on 21 Dec.
Of the day's 80,569 news stories, 27 in every 100 were about people being harmed, above the usual 26. A year earlier, on 21 December 2020, 27 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 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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