We measure how the world's news covered people being harmed — and the help and hope within it.
49 of its 64 stories (77%) were about people being harmed, usually 41%. Juba accounted for 39 of South Sudan's 49 stories about harm, carried by 75 outlets. Reports of people killed ran at about three times the usual rate (46 stories). Plane crash was named in 20 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual. Its coverage was about three times as grief-stricken as the world's.
160 of its 194 stories (82%) were about people being harmed, usually 60%. Kivu accounted for 78 of Rwanda's 160 stories about harm, carried by 95 outlets. Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's.
23 of its 37 stories (62%) were about people being harmed, usually 22%. Reports of people killed ran at about 4 times the usual rate (16 stories). Outbreaks were named in 22 of its stories about harm, about 6 times usual.
20 of its 23 stories (87%) were about people being harmed, usually 56%. Kinshasa accounted for 11 of the DR Congo's 20 stories about harm, carried by 9 outlets. 8 of Kinshasa's 11 stories were about protests or strikes.
52 of its 75 stories (69%) were about people being harmed, usually 51%. Reports of refugees ran at about three times the usual rate (11 stories). Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's.
41 of its 108 stories (38%) were about people being harmed, usually 22%. Reports of evacuations ran at about three times the usual rate (6 stories). Tsunami was named in 13 of its stories about harm, about three times usual.
Reports of people killed ran at about three times the usual rate (23 stories). Road crashes were named in 16 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual. Its coverage was about three times as grief-stricken as the world's.
Gaza accounted for 105 of Palestine's 183 stories about harm, carried by 166 outlets. Reports of evacuations ran at about twice the usual rate (8 stories). Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's.
66 of its 257 stories (26%) were about people being harmed, usually 16%. Reports of arrests ran at about 4 times the usual rate (7 stories).
13 of its 42 stories (31%) were about people being harmed, usually 13%. Reports of people injured ran at about 8 times the usual rate (6 stories).
Also named far more than usual: road crashes in Saudi Arabia (16 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); tsunami in Indonesia (13 of its stories, about three times its usual); flooding in Malaysia (10 of its stories, about 4 times its usual); covid in Thailand (10 of its stories, about 4 times its usual); poisoning in India (53 of its stories, about 6 times its usual).
Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 29 Jan. 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 18,575 stories about harm among 100,355 counted on 29 Jan.
The share of stories about people being harmed was the lowest since 24 December 2024. 19 in every 100 of the day's 100,355 news stories were about people being harmed, below the usual 20. On the side of help, reports of vaccination ran at about twice the usual rate. Samoa's news mentioned outbreaks about 6 times as often as usual. South Sudan's news was 77% about people being harmed, against a usual 41%.
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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