We measure how the world's news covered people being harmed — and the help and hope within it.
77 of its 103 stories (75%) were about people being harmed, usually 67%. Darfur accounted for 23 of Sudan's 77 stories about harm, carried by 25 outlets. Reports of people falling ill ran at more than ten times the usual rate (11 stories). Outbreaks were named in 14 of its stories about harm, about three times usual, with cholera, tuberculosis and earthquake. Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's.
73 of its 117 stories (62%) were about people being harmed, usually 51%. Damascus accounted for 40 of Syria's 73 stories about harm, carried by 37 outlets. Reports of people displaced ran at about twice the usual rate (12 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as angry as the world's.
14 of its 21 stories (67%) were about people being harmed, usually 22%. 3 of Simandou's 5 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of people killed ran at about twice the usual rate (6 stories).
55 of its 186 stories (30%) were about people being harmed, usually 15%. Reports of arrests ran at about 4 times the usual rate (6 stories). Its coverage was about twice as fearful as the world's.
766 of its 2,339 stories (33%) were about people being harmed, usually 24%. Sydney accounted for 488 of Australia's 766 stories about harm, carried by 667 outlets. Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's.
25 of its 217 stories (12%) were about people being harmed, usually 5%. Reports of people killed ran at about twice the usual rate (6 stories). Heavy rain was named in 16 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual.
Dhaka accounted for 96 of Bangladesh's 122 stories about harm, carried by 88 outlets. 48 of Dhaka's 96 stories were about protests or strikes. Its coverage was about one and a half times as grief-stricken as the world's.
36 of its 70 stories (51%) were about people being harmed, usually 41%. Its coverage was about one and a half times as angry as the world's.
43 of its 159 stories (27%) were about people being harmed, usually 20%. Reports of arrests ran at about three times the usual rate (19 stories).
4 of its 9 stories (44%) were about people being harmed, usually 11%. 4 of Bokurdak's 4 stories were about protests or strikes.
Also named far more than usual: illness in Vietnam (32 of its stories, about 4 times its usual); heavy rain in United Arab Emirates (16 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); illness in Sri Lanka (13 of its stories, about 6 times its usual); poisoning in France (19 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); snowstorms in Canada (35 of its stories, about 4 times its usual).
Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 18 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 15,297 stories about harm among 85,921 counted on 18 Dec.
In the United Arab Emirates' news, mentions of heavy rain ran more than ten times their usual. Stories about people being harmed made up 18 in every 100 of the day's 85,921 stories, as usual. Sudan's news was 75% about people being harmed, against a usual 67%. A year earlier, on 18 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 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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