We measure how the world's news covered people being harmed — and the help and hope within it.
348 of its 490 stories (71%) were about people being harmed, usually 27%. Cianjur accounted for 214 of Indonesia's 348 stories about harm, carried by 342 outlets. Reports of people injured ran at more than ten times the usual rate (259 stories). Earthquake was named in 303 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual, with landslides, tsunami and volcanic eruption. Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's.
41 of its 92 stories (45%) were about people being harmed, usually 28%. Colombo accounted for 31 of Sri Lanka's 41 stories about harm, carried by 25 outlets. Reports of people killed ran at about three times the usual rate (11 stories).
7 of Buenos Aires' 7 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of abductions ran at more than ten times the usual rate (5 stories). Anger in its coverage rose to about one and a half times its own usual.
10 of its 17 stories (59%) were about people being harmed, usually 13%. Reports of arrests ran at more than ten times the usual rate (8 stories).
17 of its 20 stories (85%) were about people being harmed, usually 27%. Reports of people displaced ran at more than ten times the usual rate (7 stories). Tsunami was named in 16 of its stories about harm, about 4 times usual.
Dhaka accounted for 49 of Bangladesh's 72 stories about harm, carried by 48 outlets. Reports of abductions ran at about 10 times the usual rate (10 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as grief-stricken as the world's.
Jenin accounted for 18 of Palestine's 38 stories about harm, carried by 25 outlets. Reports of arrests ran at about twice the usual rate (15 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as grief-stricken as the world's.
27 of its 45 stories (60%) were about people being harmed, usually 39%. Reports of arrests ran at about 4 times the usual rate (7 stories).
20 of its 45 stories (44%) were about people being harmed, usually 26%. Reports of people killed ran at about twice the usual rate (14 stories).
41 of its 122 stories (34%) were about people being harmed, usually 25%. Reports of arrests ran at about three times the usual rate (17 stories).
Also named far more than usual: tsunami in Tonga (16 of its stories, about 4 times its usual); extreme cold in Ukraine (15 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); volcanic eruption in Russia (11 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); road crashes in India (28 of its stories, about 4 times its usual); power cuts in Canada (11 of its stories, about three times its usual).
Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 21 Nov. 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 13,089 stories about harm among 68,775 counted on 21 Nov.
Mentions of the earthquake ran more than ten times their usual in Indonesia's news. of the day's 68,775 news stories, 19 in every 100 were about people being harmed, as usual. Indonesia stood out: 71% of its news was about people being harmed, usually 27%. People injured were reported at about twice the usual rate, most often about the US and Indonesia. A year earlier, on 21 November 2021, 25 in every 100 stories were about people being harmed, against 19 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 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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