We measure how the world's news covered people being harmed — and the help and hope within it.
81 of its 118 stories (69%) were about people being harmed, usually 25%. Port Moresby accounted for 45 of Papua New Guinea's 81 stories about harm, carried by 81 outlets. Reports of people killed ran at about 5 times the usual rate (78 stories). Landslides were named in 76 of its stories about harm, about three times usual, with power cuts. Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's. Fear in its coverage rose to about twice its own usual.
104 of its 132 stories (79%) were about people being harmed, usually 44%. Port-au-Prince accounted for 57 of Haiti's 104 stories about harm, carried by 207 outlets. Reports of abductions ran at about 5 times the usual rate (20 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.
987 of its 3,932 stories (25%) were about people being harmed, usually 20%. Reports of abductions ran at about 4 times the usual rate (41 stories). Cyclone was named in 71 of its stories about harm, about 9 times usual, with storm surge.
Reports of abductions ran at about 4 times the usual rate (5 stories). Flu was named in 27 of its stories about harm, about 5 times usual, with bird flu, outbreaks and house fires. Its coverage was about one and a half times as fearful as the world's.
47 of its 66 stories (71%) were about people being harmed, usually 54%. Damascus accounted for 27 of Syria's 47 stories about harm, carried by 26 outlets. Reports of people displaced ran at about twice the usual rate (13 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.
187 of its 433 stories (43%) were about people being harmed, usually 34%. Kharkiv accounted for 123 of Ukraine's 187 stories about harm, carried by 245 outlets. Reports of people killed ran at about twice the usual rate (122 stories). Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's.
98 of its 214 stories (46%) were about people being harmed, usually 32%. Reports of people displaced ran at about 5 times the usual rate (11 stories). Cyclone was named in 28 of its stories about harm, about 9 times usual.
20 of its 59 stories (34%) were about people being harmed, usually 17%. Stockholm accounted for 18 of Sweden's 20 stories about harm, carried by 19 outlets.
26 of its 69 stories (38%) were about people being harmed, usually 24%. Reports of people affected ran at about twice the usual rate (8 stories).
23 of its 88 stories (26%) were about people being harmed, usually 14%. Reports of people affected ran at about three times the usual rate (5 stories).
Also named far more than usual: cyclone in Bangladesh (28 of its stories, about 9 times its usual); tsunami in Japan (11 of its stories, about three times its usual).
Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 25 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 10,874 stories about harm among 58,712 counted on 25 May.
Papua New Guinea stood out: 69% of its news was about people being harmed, usually 25%. 19 in every 100 of the day's 58,712 news stories were about people being harmed, as usual. For the second day running, the news turned to Papua New Guinea. A year earlier, on 26 May 2023, 18 in every 100 stories were about people being harmed, against 19 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 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.