We measure how the world's news covered people being harmed — and the help and hope within it.
78 of its 172 stories (45%) were about people being harmed, usually 19%. Copenhagen accounted for 45 of Denmark's 78 stories about harm, carried by 146 outlets. Reports of arrests ran at more than ten times the usual rate (47 stories). Its coverage was about three times as fearful as the world's.
18 of its 41 stories (44%) were about people being harmed, usually 22%. Bathurst accounted for 17 of the Gambia's 18 stories about harm, carried by 85 outlets. Reports of people killed ran at about 6 times the usual rate (13 stories). Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's.
109 of its 273 stories (40%) were about people being harmed, usually 32%. Dhaka accounted for 51 of Bangladesh's 109 stories about harm, carried by 33 outlets. Reports of refugees ran at about twice the usual rate (9 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as grief-stricken as the world's.
14 of its 37 stories (38%) were about people being harmed, usually 23%. 4 of Koro Toro's 4 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of people injured ran at more than ten times the usual rate (5 stories).
366 of its 540 stories (68%) were about people being harmed, usually 62%. Gaza accounted for 281 of Palestine's 366 stories about harm, carried by 242 outlets. Heavy rain was named in 19 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual. Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's.
77 of its 129 stories (60%) were about people being harmed, usually 42%. Kabul accounted for 37 of Afghanistan's 77 stories about harm, carried by 74 outlets. Its coverage was about one and a half times as fearful as the world's.
18 of its 43 stories (42%) were about people being harmed, usually 22%. Dakar accounted for 15 of Senegal's 18 stories about harm, carried by 20 outlets.
40 of its 124 stories (32%) were about people being harmed, usually 22%. Reports of arrests ran at about twice the usual rate (14 stories).
13 of its 47 stories (28%) were about people being harmed, usually 16%. Reports of people killed ran at about 4 times the usual rate (6 stories).
Reports of evacuations ran at more than ten times the usual rate (7 stories). Power cuts were named in 14 of its stories about harm, about three times usual.
Also named far more than usual: covid in Indonesia (16 of its stories, about 4 times its usual); covid in Russia (25 of its stories, about 4 times its usual); power cuts in Kenya (14 of its stories, about three times its usual); snowstorms in China (23 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); road crashes in Japan (11 of its stories, more than ten times its usual).
Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 14 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 19,861 stories about harm among 112,233 counted on 14 Dec.
No day had a lower share of stories about people being harmed since 2 October 2023. Stories about people being harmed made up 18 in every 100 of the day's 112,233 stories, below the usual 19. Denmark's news was 45% about people being harmed, against a usual 19%. On 14 December 2022, a year earlier, the share was 20 in every 100, against 18 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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