We measure how the world's news covered people being harmed — and the help and hope within it.
41 of its 63 stories (65%) were about people being harmed, usually 13%. Budapest accounted for 33 of Hungary's 41 stories about harm, carried by 97 outlets. Reports of people killed ran at more than ten times the usual rate (35 stories). Accidents were named in 16 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual.
181 of its 402 stories (45%) were about people being harmed, usually 31%. Kharkiv accounted for 93 of Ukraine's 181 stories about harm, carried by 188 outlets. Reports of people injured ran at about twice the usual rate (82 stories). Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's.
30 of its 37 stories (81%) were about people being harmed, usually 54%. Noumea accounted for 27 of New Caledonia's 30 stories about harm, carried by 69 outlets. 24 of Noumea's 27 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of people affected ran at about 4 times the usual rate (7 stories).
45 of its 91 stories (49%) were about people being harmed, usually 21%. Bishkek accounted for 42 of Kyrgyzstan's 45 stories about harm, carried by 30 outlets. Reports of people injured ran at about 4 times the usual rate (33 stories).
101 of its 131 stories (77%) were about people being harmed, usually 53%. Reports of people injured ran at about twice the usual rate (53 stories). Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's.
28 of its 60 stories (47%) were about people being harmed, usually 27%. 7 of Tunis' 14 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of people affected ran at about 4 times the usual rate (16 stories).
728 of its 2,998 stories (24%) were about people being harmed, usually 19%. Reports of evacuations ran at more than ten times the usual rate (21 stories). Heatstroke was named in 16 of its stories about harm, about 5 times usual.
38 of its 52 stories (73%) were about people being harmed, usually 40%. Reports of people killed ran at about twice the usual rate (34 stories).
74 of its 147 stories (50%) were about people being harmed, usually 36%. Its coverage was about three times as fearful as the world's. Anger in its coverage rose to about one and a half times its own usual.
84 of its 195 stories (43%) were about people being harmed, usually 34%. Reports of evacuations ran at about twice the usual rate (24 stories).
Also named far more than usual: heavy rain in Iran (75 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); heatwave in Pakistan (16 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); hepatitis in UK (41 of its stories, about 10 times its usual); heatstroke in India (16 of its stories, about 5 times its usual); heatstroke in US (17 of its stories, about 7 times its usual).
Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 19 May. 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 9,456 stories about harm among 48,890 counted on 19 May.
Hungary stood out: 65% of its news was about people being harmed, usually 13%. 19 in every 100 of the day's 48,890 news stories were about people being harmed, above the usual 18. In Iran's news, mentions of heavy rain ran more than ten times their usual. A year earlier, on 20 May 2023, 17 in every 100 stories were about people being harmed, against 19 today. This week the news turned most often to Ukraine, 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.