We measure how the world's news covered people being harmed — and the help and hope within it.
81 of its 103 stories (79%) were about people being harmed, usually 50%. Damascus accounted for 33 of Syria's 81 stories about harm, carried by 71 outlets. Reports of people displaced ran at about 4 times the usual rate (25 stories). Outbreaks were named in 12 of its stories about harm, about 4 times usual. Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's.
218 of its 463 stories (47%) were about people being harmed, usually 21%. Bangkok accounted for 200 of Thailand's 218 stories about harm, carried by 331 outlets. Reports of people injured ran at more than ten times the usual rate (173 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as grief-stricken as the world's.
77 of its 248 stories (31%) were about people being harmed, usually 17%. 29 of Kalamata's 45 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of people affected ran at about 8 times the usual rate (55 stories).
33 of its 42 stories (79%) were about people being harmed, usually 57%. Noumea accounted for 26 of New Caledonia's 33 stories about harm, carried by 100 outlets. Reports of evacuations ran at more than ten times the usual rate (8 stories).
224 of its 474 stories (47%) were about people being harmed, usually 16%. Reports of people injured ran at more than ten times the usual rate (143 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as grief-stricken as the world's.
41 of its 74 stories (55%) were about people being harmed, usually 42%. Port-au-Prince accounted for 26 of Haiti's 41 stories about harm, carried by 44 outlets. Reports of evacuations ran at more than ten times the usual rate (15 stories).
Tehran accounted for 262 of Iran's 467 stories about harm, carried by 508 outlets. Flooding was named in 26 of its stories about harm, about 4 times usual. Its coverage was about three times as grief-stricken as the world's.
Reports of evacuations ran at about three times the usual rate (17 stories). Hepatitis was named in 137 of its stories about harm, about 6 times usual, with hiv. Its coverage was about one and a half times as fearful as the world's.
39 of its 131 stories (30%) were about people being harmed, usually 16%. Reports of arrests ran at about 7 times the usual rate (18 stories).
12 of its 13 stories (92%) were about people being harmed, usually 49%. Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's.
Also named far more than usual: landslides in Ecuador (12 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); heatwave in Pakistan (32 of its stories, about 9 times its usual); volcanic eruption in Italy (18 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); tsunami in Taiwan (14 of its stories, about three times its usual); tsunami in Japan (19 of its stories, about three times its usual).
Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 21 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 19,401 stories about harm among 106,565 counted on 21 May.
In Ecuador's news, mentions of landslides ran more than ten times their usual. Stories about people being harmed made up 18 in every 100 of the day's 106,565 stories, as usual. Syria's news was 79% about people being harmed, against a usual 50%. A year earlier, on 22 May 2023, 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 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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