We measure how the world's news covered people being harmed — and the help and hope within it.
922 of its 2,530 stories (36%) were about people being harmed, usually 23%. Sydney accounted for 632 of Australia's 922 stories about harm, carried by 882 outlets. Reports of people injured ran at about three times the usual rate (299 stories). Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's.
26 of its 101 stories (26%) were about people being harmed, usually 12%. Lisbon accounted for 20 of Portugal's 26 stories about harm, carried by 30 outlets. Reports of people injured ran at more than ten times the usual rate (9 stories).
Gaza accounted for 64 of Palestine's 124 stories about harm, carried by 150 outlets. Storms were named in 10 of its stories about harm, about 6 times usual, with hypothermia. Its coverage was about one and a half times as grief-stricken as the world's.
5 of its 7 stories (71%) were about people being harmed, usually 22%.
22 of its 51 stories (43%) were about people being harmed, usually 28%. Its coverage was about one and a half times as fearful as the world's.
160 of its 489 stories (33%) were about people being harmed, usually 24%. Reports of refugees ran at more than ten times the usual rate (19 stories).
Reports of people injured ran at about three times the usual rate (17 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as fearful as the world's.
Caracas accounted for 80 of Venezuela's 244 stories about harm, carried by 97 outlets. Its coverage was about one and a half times as fearful as the world's.
Reports of arrests ran at about twice the usual rate (13 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as fearful as the world's.
Dhaka accounted for 62 of Bangladesh's 112 stories about harm, carried by 36 outlets. Reports of people affected ran at about twice the usual rate (16 stories).
Also named far more than usual: covid in Ethiopia (15 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); storms in Canada (61 of its stories, about 5 times its usual); hypothermia in Israel (10 of its stories, about 9 times its usual); power cuts in US (143 of its stories, about 4 times its usual).
Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 17 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 15,573 stories about harm among 86,222 counted on 17 Dec.
It was the fourth day running that the news turned to Australia. of the day's 86,222 news stories, 18 in every 100 were about people being harmed, as usual. Ethiopia's news mentioned Covid more than ten times as often as usual. Australia's news was 36% about people being harmed, against a usual 23%. A year earlier, on 17 December 2024, 18 in every 100 stories were about people being harmed, 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 about as 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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