We measure how the world's news covered people being harmed — and the help and hope within it.
87 of its 138 stories (63%) were about people being harmed, usually 43%. Kabul accounted for 53 of Afghanistan's 87 stories about harm, carried by 149 outlets. Reports of people killed ran at about twice the usual rate (43 stories). Its coverage was about three times as grief-stricken as the world's.
18 of its 24 stories (75%) were about people being harmed, usually 21%. Reports of people affected ran at more than ten times the usual rate (11 stories).
8 of its 18 stories (44%) were about people being harmed, usually 17%. 3 of Bratislava's 4 stories were about protests or strikes.
Reports of arrests ran at about three times the usual rate (24 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as warm as the world's. Grief in its coverage rose to about one and a half times its own usual.
165 of its 243 stories (68%) were about people being harmed, usually 58%. Gaza accounted for 128 of Palestine's 165 stories about harm, carried by 330 outlets. Reports of abductions ran at about twice the usual rate (40 stories). Its coverage was about three times as grief-stricken as the world's.
Damascus accounted for 370 of Syria's 638 stories about harm, carried by 670 outlets. Reports of evacuations ran at about three times the usual rate (10 stories). Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's.
18 of its 63 stories (29%) were about people being harmed, usually 17%. Reports of arrests ran at about 4 times the usual rate (5 stories).
Reports of people injured ran at about three times the usual rate (5 stories). Grief in its coverage rose to about one and a half times its own usual.
Jerusalem accounted for 158 of Israel's 438 stories about harm, carried by 300 outlets. Its coverage was about three times as grief-stricken as the world's.
Reports of abductions ran at about three times the usual rate (17 stories). Hunger was named in 20 of its stories about harm, about 7 times usual.
Also named far more than usual: hypothermia in Italy (23 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); malaria in Congo (10 of its stories, about 7 times its usual); natural hazards in Philippines (16 of its stories, about three times its usual); malaria in Nigeria (21 of its stories, about 4 times its usual); extreme cold in Canada (23 of its stories, about 4 times its usual).
Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 12 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 17,851 stories about harm among 103,312 counted on 12 Dec.
Italy's news mentioned the hypothermia more than ten times as often as usual. 17 in every 100 of the day's 103,312 news stories were about people being harmed, as usual. For the second day running, the news turned to Afghanistan. Afghanistan stood out: 63% of its news was about people being harmed, usually 43%. A year earlier, on 13 December 2023, 18 in every 100 stories were about people being harmed, against 17 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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