We measure how the world's news covered people being harmed — and the help and hope within it.
613 of its 749 stories (82%) were about people being harmed, usually 74%. Damascus accounted for 317 of Syria's 613 stories about harm, carried by 480 outlets. Reports of abductions ran at about three times the usual rate (10 stories). Natural hazards were named in 13 of its stories about harm, about 4 times usual. Its coverage was about three times as angry as the world's.
89 of its 178 stories (50%) were about people being harmed, usually 14%. Mariahoeve accounted for 45 of the Netherlands' 89 stories about harm, carried by 97 outlets. Reports of evacuations ran at more than ten times the usual rate (14 stories). Earthquake was named in 36 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual.
38 of its 59 stories (64%) were about people being harmed, usually 48%. Tbilisi accounted for 37 of Georgia's 38 stories about harm, carried by 81 outlets. 36 of Tbilisi's 37 stories were about protests or strikes. Its coverage was about one and a half times as angry as the world's.
21 of its 45 stories (47%) were about people being harmed, usually 27%. Reports of arrests ran at about 7 times the usual rate (5 stories).
7 of its 9 stories (78%) were about people being harmed, usually 18%. Reports of people injured ran at about three times the usual rate (7 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as grief-stricken as the world's.
39 of Islamabad's 76 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of refugees ran at more than ten times the usual rate (7 stories). Its coverage was about twice as fearful as the world's.
177 of its 674 stories (26%) were about people being harmed, usually 16%. Power cuts were named in 71 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual.
23 of its 107 stories (21%) were about people being harmed, usually 9%. 6 of Bucharest's 12 stories were about protests or strikes.
46 of its 119 stories (39%) were about people being harmed, usually 27%. Reports of arrests ran at about three times the usual rate (10 stories).
11 of its 37 stories (30%) were about people being harmed, usually 17%. Reports of people killed ran at about three times the usual rate (7 stories).
Also named far more than usual: power cuts in Ireland (71 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); heavy rain in UK (114 of its stories, about 4 times its usual); covid in Nigeria (22 of its stories, about 5 times its usual); tuberculosis in India (24 of its stories, about 6 times its usual); volcanic eruption in US (23 of its stories, about three times its usual).
Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 7 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 10,801 stories about harm among 58,866 counted on 7 Dec.
It was the third day running that the news turned to Syria. of the day's 58,866 news stories, 18 in every 100 were about people being harmed, above the usual 17. Ireland's news mentioned power cuts more than ten times as often as usual. Syria's news was 82% about people being harmed, against a usual 74%. On 8 December 2023, a year earlier, the share was 18 in every 100, 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 about as 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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