We measure how the world's news covered people being harmed — and the help and hope within it.
146 of its 275 stories (53%) were about people being harmed, usually 25%. Pretoria accounted for 90 of South Africa's 146 stories about harm, carried by 252 outlets. Reports of people injured ran at more than ten times the usual rate (67 stories). Its coverage was about three times as grief-stricken as the world's.
83 of its 137 stories (61%) were about people being harmed, usually 39%. Reports of arrests ran at about twice the usual rate (6 stories). Fear in its coverage rose to about one and a half times its own usual.
38 of its 77 stories (49%) were about people being harmed, usually 36%. Reports of arrests ran at about twice the usual rate (8 stories).
Reports of people injured ran at about twice the usual rate (23 stories).
91 of its 135 stories (67%) were about people being harmed, usually 50%. Kabul accounted for 40 of Afghanistan's 91 stories about harm, carried by 43 outlets. Reports of people injured ran at about twice the usual rate (42 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as angry as the world's.
106 of its 298 stories (36%) were about people being harmed, usually 28%. Kyiv accounted for 69 of Ukraine's 106 stories about harm, carried by 391 outlets. Accidents were named in 10 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.
32 of its 39 stories (82%) were about people being harmed, usually 67%. Kordofan accounted for 19 of Sudan's 32 stories about harm, carried by 115 outlets. Reports of people injured ran at about three times the usual rate (9 stories). Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's.
48 of its 74 stories (65%) were about people being harmed, usually 47%. Damascus accounted for 28 of Syria's 48 stories about harm, carried by 31 outlets. Its coverage was about one and a half times as fearful as the world's.
83 of its 125 stories (66%) were about people being harmed, usually 43%. Reports of evacuations ran at about twice the usual rate (10 stories).
174 of its 417 stories (42%) were about people being harmed, usually 34%. Its coverage was about one and a half times as fearful as the world's.
Also named far more than usual: wildfires in Australia (36 of its stories, about 8 times its usual); accidents in Ukraine (10 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); hepatitis in US (156 of its stories, about 8 times its usual); storms in UK (33 of its stories, about three times its usual).
Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 6 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 8,852 stories about harm among 49,984 counted on 6 Dec.
On the side of help, reports of vaccination ran at about one and a half times the usual rate. Stories about people being harmed made up 18 in every 100 of the day's 49,984 stories, above the usual 16. Mentions of wildfires ran about 8 times their usual in Australia's news. In South Africa, 53% of the news was about people being harmed, where 25% is usual. On 6 December 2024, 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 much harsher 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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