We measure how the world's news covered people being harmed — and the help and hope within it.
37 of its 108 stories (34%) were about people being harmed, usually 22%. 16 of Buenos Aires' 29 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of people injured ran at about 10 times the usual rate (8 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as fearful as the world's. Anger in its coverage rose to about one and a half times its own usual.
43 of its 71 stories (61%) were about people being harmed, usually 31%. Guayaquil accounted for 27 of Ecuador's 43 stories about harm, carried by 26 outlets. Reports of arrests ran at more than ten times the usual rate (21 stories).
96 of its 180 stories (53%) were about people being harmed, usually 45%. Tehran accounted for 55 of Iran's 96 stories about harm, carried by 74 outlets. Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's.
130 of its 165 stories (79%) were about people being harmed, usually 52%. Grindavik accounted for 93 of Iceland's 130 stories about harm, carried by 254 outlets.
31 of its 83 stories (37%) were about people being harmed, usually 28%. Reports of arrests ran at about twice the usual rate (7 stories). Grief in its coverage rose to about one and a half times its own usual.
56 of its 219 stories (26%) were about people being harmed, usually 19%. Reports of arrests ran at about three times the usual rate (14 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as fearful as the world's.
59 of its 105 stories (56%) were about people being harmed, usually 15%. Reports of arrests ran at about 9 times the usual rate (49 stories).
14 of its 20 stories (70%) were about people being harmed, usually 28%. Reports of abductions ran at about 10 times the usual rate (6 stories).
34 of its 66 stories (52%) were about people being harmed, usually 32%. Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's.
98 of its 243 stories (40%) were about people being harmed, usually 32%. Its coverage was about one and a half times as grief-stricken as the world's.
Also named far more than usual: earthquake in China (183 of its stories, about 7 times its usual); covid in India (278 of its stories, about 4 times its usual); illness in Brazil (12 of its stories, about three times its usual); wildfires in South Africa (20 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); road crashes in Ireland (21 of its stories, about 5 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 19,935 stories about harm among 105,269 counted on 20 Dec.
Of the day's 105,269 news stories, 19 in every 100 were about people being harmed, as usual. On 20 December 2022, a year earlier, the share was 20 in every 100, 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 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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