We measure how the world's news covered people being harmed — and the help and hope within it.
109 of its 160 stories (68%) were about people being harmed, usually 55%. Gaza accounted for 92 of Palestine's 109 stories about harm, carried by 102 outlets. Reports of refugees ran at about twice the usual rate (14 stories). Flooding was named in 23 of its stories about harm, about 4 times usual, with heavy rain. Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's.
94 of its 159 stories (59%) were about people being harmed, usually 36%. Tehran accounted for 44 of Iran's 94 stories about harm, carried by 94 outlets. 25 of Tehran's 44 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of arrests ran at about 4 times the usual rate (35 stories).
94 of its 293 stories (32%) were about people being harmed, usually 26%. Reports of evacuations ran at about three times the usual rate (8 stories). Power cuts were named in 37 of its stories about harm, about 8 times usual. Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's.
72 of its 88 stories (82%) were about people being harmed, usually 18%. Minsk accounted for 51 of Belarus' 72 stories about harm, carried by 155 outlets. Reports of arrests ran at about 7 times the usual rate (58 stories).
199 of its 271 stories (73%) were about people being harmed, usually 46%. Damascus accounted for 95 of Syria's 199 stories about harm, carried by 377 outlets. Reports of people injured ran at about 6 times the usual rate (156 stories). Its coverage was about three times as angry as the world's.
116 of its 193 stories (60%) were about people being harmed, usually 33%. Bangkok accounted for 52 of Thailand's 116 stories about harm, carried by 137 outlets. Reports of people displaced ran at about 7 times the usual rate (47 stories). Train derailment was named in 13 of its stories about harm, about 8 times usual.
12 of its 29 stories (41%) were about people being harmed, usually 10%. 8 of Budapest's 11 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of arrests ran at more than ten times the usual rate (5 stories).
28 of its 45 stories (62%) were about people being harmed, usually 38%. Reports of people displaced ran at about twice the usual rate (12 stories). Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's.
50 of its 107 stories (47%) were about people being harmed, usually 31%. Reports of people affected ran at about 4 times the usual rate (8 stories). Its coverage was about three times as fearful as the world's.
43 of its 51 stories (84%) were about people being harmed, usually 66%. Reports of people injured ran at about 5 times the usual rate (22 stories). Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's.
Also named far more than usual: road crashes in Kenya (18 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); cyclone in Fiji (11 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); tsunami in Indonesia (20 of its stories, about three times its usual); flooding in Canada (43 of its stories, about 5 times its usual); flu in UK (73 of its stories, about three times its usual).
Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 13 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 8,907 stories about harm among 49,576 counted on 13 Dec.
The news turned to Palestine for the third day running. 18 in every 100 of the day's 49,576 news stories were about people being harmed, above the usual 17. In Ukraine's news, mentions of power cuts ran about 8 times their usual. Palestine stood out: 68% of its news was about people being harmed, usually 55%. A year earlier, on 13 December 2024, 17 in every 100 stories were about people being harmed, against 18 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 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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