We measure how the world's news covered people being harmed — and the help and hope within it.
216 of its 341 stories (63%) were about people being harmed, usually 33%. Sumatra accounted for 78 of Indonesia's 216 stories about harm, carried by 111 outlets. Reports of people displaced ran at about 8 times the usual rate (39 stories). Cyclone was named in 67 of its stories about harm, about 4 times usual, with storms and typhoon. Its coverage was about one and a half times as grief-stricken as the world's.
167 of its 293 stories (57%) were about people being harmed, usually 47%. Caracas accounted for 89 of Venezuela's 167 stories about harm, carried by 184 outlets. Reports of people affected ran at about three times the usual rate (33 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as angry as the world's. Grief in its coverage rose to about one and a half times its own usual.
11 of its 21 stories (52%) were about people being harmed, usually 17%. 7 of Zagreb's 7 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of people killed ran at about twice the usual rate (5 stories).
18 of its 30 stories (60%) were about people being harmed, usually 33%. Ebola was named in 13 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual. Its coverage was about one and a half times as grief-stricken as the world's.
224 of its 332 stories (67%) were about people being harmed, usually 31%. Colombo accounted for 115 of Sri Lanka's 224 stories about harm, carried by 132 outlets. Reports of evacuations ran at about 6 times the usual rate (33 stories). Tsunami was named in 19 of its stories about harm, about 5 times usual, with earthquake.
11 of its 17 stories (65%) were about people being harmed, usually 26%. Reports of people injured ran at more than ten times the usual rate (9 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as angry as the world's.
39 of its 93 stories (42%) were about people being harmed, usually 33%. Reports of abductions ran at more than ten times the usual rate (5 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as fearful as the world's.
139 of its 231 stories (60%) were about people being harmed, usually 41%. Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's.
21 of its 45 stories (47%) were about people being harmed, usually 27%. Its coverage was about one and a half times as grief-stricken as the world's.
9 of its 24 stories (38%) were about people being harmed, usually 14%. Reports of arrests ran at about three times the usual rate (8 stories).
Also named far more than usual: cyclone in India (100 of its stories, about 4 times its usual); heavy rain in New Zealand (12 of its stories, about 4 times its usual); tsunami in Sri Lanka (19 of its stories, about 5 times its usual); snowstorms in US (190 of its stories, about 4 times its usual); landslides in UK (31 of its stories, more than ten times its usual).
Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 1 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 13,502 stories about harm among 76,594 counted on 1 Dec.
The news turned to Indonesia for the fourth day running. 18 in every 100 of the day's 76,594 news stories were about people being harmed, above the usual 16. In Indonesia's news, mentions of the cyclone ran about 4 times their usual. Indonesia stood out: 63% of its news was about people being harmed, usually 33%. A year earlier, on 1 December 2024, 18 in every 100 stories were about people being harmed, the same as today. Over November, 16 in every 100 stories were about people being harmed, against 17 in November 2024.
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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