We measure how the world's news covered people being harmed — and the help and hope within it.
207 of its 435 stories (48%) were about people being harmed, usually 36%. Dhaka accounted for 113 of Bangladesh's 207 stories about harm, carried by 84 outlets. 70 of Dhaka's 113 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of arrests ran at about three times the usual rate (70 stories). Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's. Anger in its coverage rose to about one and a half times its own usual.
168 of its 263 stories (64%) were about people being harmed, usually 25%. Bekkersdal accounted for 108 of South Africa's 168 stories about harm, carried by 374 outlets. Reports of people injured ran at more than ten times the usual rate (109 stories). Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's. Anger in its coverage rose to about twice its own usual.
20 of its 73 stories (27%) were about people being harmed, usually 14%. Reports of arrests ran at about twice the usual rate (7 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as fearful as the world's.
18 of its 90 stories (20%) were about people being harmed, usually 9%. Reports of people killed ran at about 5 times the usual rate (12 stories). Grief in its coverage rose to about one and a half times its own usual.
40 of its 100 stories (40%) were about people being harmed, usually 14%. Taipei accounted for 37 of Taiwan's 40 stories about harm, carried by 49 outlets. Reports of people injured ran at about 7 times the usual rate (29 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as angry as the world's. Fear in its coverage rose to about one and a half times its own usual.
335 of its 904 stories (37%) were about people being harmed, usually 26%. Bondi Beach accounted for 231 of Australia's 335 stories about harm, carried by 414 outlets. Reports of people injured ran at about twice the usual rate (99 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as fearful as the world's. Anger in its coverage rose to about one and a half times its own usual.
71 of its 215 stories (33%) were about people being harmed, usually 23%. Kyiv accounted for 35 of Ukraine's 71 stories about harm, carried by 157 outlets. Reports of abductions ran at about 9 times the usual rate (6 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as angry as the world's.
Gaza accounted for 53 of Palestine's 87 stories about harm, carried by 139 outlets. Reports of evacuations ran at about 6 times the usual rate (13 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as grief-stricken as the world's.
21 of its 30 stories (70%) were about people being harmed, usually 42%. Reports of evacuations ran at about three times the usual rate (5 stories).
18 of its 70 stories (26%) were about people being harmed, usually 17%. Anger in its coverage rose to about one and a half times its own usual.
Also named far more than usual: illness in Venezuela (25 of its stories, about 4 times its usual); power cuts in US (79 of its stories, about 4 times its usual); polio in India (22 of its stories, more than ten times its usual).
Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 21 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 6,939 stories about harm among 38,291 counted on 21 Dec.
For the third day running, the news turned to Bangladesh. Stories about people being harmed made up 18 in every 100 of the day's 38,291 stories, as usual. Mentions of power cuts ran about 4 times their usual in the US's news. In Bangladesh, 48% of the news was about people being harmed, where 36% is usual. A year earlier, on 21 December 2024, 19 in every 100 stories were about people being harmed, against 18 today. This week the news turned most often to Australia, on 3 of 7 days.
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?
Unlock a year of trends, free. Follow up to 5 countries, with a bell when their news changes, and 👍 vote for Pro — ten years of the archive, any period, daily alerts.
Create a free accountSign in · a username, an email and a password.