We measure how the world's news covered people being harmed — and the help and hope within it.
86 of its 104 stories (83%) were about people being harmed, usually 43%. Cite Soleil accounted for 60 of Haiti's 86 stories about harm, carried by 146 outlets. Reports of people killed ran at about three times the usual rate (78 stories). Its coverage was about three times as grief-stricken as the world's.
54 of its 196 stories (28%) were about people being harmed, usually 18%. Reports of refugees ran at more than ten times the usual rate (8 stories). Anger in its coverage rose to about one and a half times its own usual.
Philippine accounted for 154 of the Philippines' 221 stories about harm, carried by 104 outlets. Reports of refugees ran at more than ten times the usual rate (8 stories). Volcanic eruption was named in 61 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual, with earthquake.
102 of its 509 stories (20%) were about people being harmed, usually 13%. Reports of people injured ran at more than ten times the usual rate (44 stories).
203 of its 619 stories (33%) were about people being harmed, usually 22%. Moscow accounted for 137 of Russia's 203 stories about harm, carried by 141 outlets. Reports of refugees ran at about 4 times the usual rate (6 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as angry as the world's.
Damascus accounted for 1,074 of Syria's 1,567 stories about harm, carried by 1,020 outlets. Reports of arrests ran at about twice the usual rate (130 stories). Hunger was named in 53 of its stories about harm, about 7 times usual. Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's.
42 of its 178 stories (24%) were about people being harmed, usually 9%. Reports of people killed ran at about 6 times the usual rate (23 stories). Anger in its coverage rose to about one and a half times its own usual.
89 of its 133 stories (67%) were about people being harmed, usually 58%. Gaza accounted for 55 of Palestine's 89 stories about harm, carried by 49 outlets. Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's.
52 of its 203 stories (26%) were about people being harmed, usually 16%. Reports of evacuations ran at about 5 times the usual rate (6 stories).
28 of its 41 stories (68%) were about people being harmed, usually 52%. Malaria was named in 14 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual, with hunger and flu.
Also named far more than usual: malaria in Congo (14 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); power cuts in Ireland (37 of its stories, about 6 times its usual); flooding in Vietnam (10 of its stories, about 8 times its usual); storms in Indonesia (12 of its stories, about 4 times its usual); covid in Mexico (11 of its stories, about three times its usual).
Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 9 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 16,346 stories about harm among 88,311 counted on 9 Dec.
The Philippines' news mentioned volcanic eruption more than ten times as often as usual. 19 in every 100 of the day's 88,311 news stories were about people being harmed, above the usual 17. Refugees were reported at about twice the usual rate, most often about Syria and the UK. Haiti stood out: 83% of its news was about people being harmed, usually 43%. On 10 December 2023, 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 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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