We measure how the world's news covered people being harmed — and the help and hope within it.
29 of its 63 stories (46%) were about people being harmed, usually 30%. 6 of Dar es Salaam's 9 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of people affected ran at about 4 times the usual rate (7 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as fearful as the world's.
103 of its 144 stories (72%) were about people being harmed, usually 39%. Colombo accounted for 42 of Sri Lanka's 103 stories about harm, carried by 134 outlets. Reports of people displaced ran at about 4 times the usual rate (20 stories).
42 of its 72 stories (58%) were about people being harmed, usually 29%. Reports of people killed ran at about 4 times the usual rate (20 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as warm as the world's.
Reports of evacuations ran at about 5 times the usual rate (20 stories). Earthquake was named in 46 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual, with volcanic eruption. Its coverage was about one and a half times as fearful as the world's.
34 of its 58 stories (59%) were about people being harmed, usually 30%. Baghdad accounted for 20 of Iraq's 34 stories about harm, carried by 70 outlets. Its coverage was about twice as fearful as the world's.
Reports of people displaced ran at about 5 times the usual rate (5 stories). Poisoning was named in 45 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual. Its coverage was about one and a half times as angry as the world's.
33 of its 58 stories (57%) were about people being harmed, usually 34%. Reports of people displaced ran at about twice the usual rate (9 stories).
7 of its 13 stories (54%) were about people being harmed, usually 16%. Reports of arrests ran at about 10 times the usual rate (5 stories).
20 of its 97 stories (21%) were about people being harmed, usually 10%. Reports of arrests ran at about three times the usual rate (5 stories).
34 of its 162 stories (21%) were about people being harmed, usually 12%. Reports of people killed ran at about 4 times the usual rate (19 stories).
Also named far more than usual: poisoning in Russia (45 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); plague in Italy (18 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); hiv in Kenya (15 of its stories, about 6 times its usual); storms in Greece (12 of its stories, about 4 times its usual); extreme cold in Canada (14 of its stories, about 5 times its usual).
Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 4 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 14,795 stories about harm among 88,323 counted on 4 Dec.
Russia's news mentioned poisoning more than ten times as often as usual. 17 in every 100 of the day's 88,323 news stories were about people being harmed, as usual. On the side of help, reports of vaccination ran at about one and a half times the usual rate. Tanzania stood out: 46% of its news was about people being harmed, usually 30%. On 4 December 2024, a year earlier, the share was 17 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 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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