We measure how the world's news covered people being harmed — and the help and hope within it.
97 of its 220 stories (44%) were about people being harmed, usually 31%. Dhaka accounted for 62 of Bangladesh's 97 stories about harm, carried by 57 outlets. Reports of people killed ran at about three times the usual rate (65 stories). Train derailment was named in 14 of its stories about harm, about 7 times usual. Its coverage was about one and a half times as grief-stricken as the world's. Anger in its coverage rose to about one and a half times its own usual.
41 of its 108 stories (38%) were about people being harmed, usually 27%. 6 of Kampala's 11 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of people killed ran at about twice the usual rate (15 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as angry as the world's.
38 of its 59 stories (64%) were about people being harmed, usually 28%. Reports of people falling ill ran at about 7 times the usual rate (15 stories). Poisoning was named in 24 of its stories about harm, about 4 times usual.
11 of its 15 stories (73%) were about people being harmed, usually 26%. Reports of arrests ran at about 4 times the usual rate (8 stories).
421 of its 455 stories (93%) were about people being harmed, usually 37%. Grindavik accounted for 347 of Iceland's 421 stories about harm, carried by 896 outlets. Reports of evacuations ran at about 8 times the usual rate (98 stories). Outbreaks were named in 36 of its stories about harm, about 6 times usual.
671 of its 2,138 stories (31%) were about people being harmed, usually 17%. Reports of people injured ran at more than ten times the usual rate (356 stories). Earthquake was named in 459 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual, with extreme cold, power cuts and volcanic eruption. Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's.
39 of its 51 stories (76%) were about people being harmed, usually 37%. Conakry accounted for 35 of Guinea's 39 stories about harm, carried by 96 outlets. Reports of people injured ran at about three times the usual rate (34 stories).
3 of Sweida's 6 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of arrests ran at about three times the usual rate (6 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as fearful as the world's.
Reports of evacuations ran at about twice the usual rate (12 stories). Tropical storm was named in 11 of its stories about harm, about 10 times usual, with cyclone and heavy rain. Its coverage was about one and a half times as fearful as the world's.
28 of its 153 stories (18%) were about people being harmed, usually 11%. Reports of people injured ran at more than ten times the usual rate (16 stories).
Also named far more than usual: earthquake in China (459 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); tuberculosis in Rwanda (16 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); drought in Zimbabwe (18 of its stories, about 4 times its usual); outbreaks in Iceland (36 of its stories, about 6 times its usual); illness in Russia (13 of its stories, about three times its usual).
Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 19 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 19,853 stories about harm among 106,012 counted on 19 Dec.
Mentions of the earthquake ran more than ten times their usual in China's news. of the day's 106,012 news stories, 19 in every 100 were about people being harmed, as usual. Bangladesh stood out: 44% of its news was about people being harmed, usually 31%. A year earlier, on 19 December 2022, 20 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 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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