We measure how the world's news covered people being harmed — and the help and hope within it.
134 of its 312 stories (43%) were about people being harmed, usually 21%. Rio de Janeiro accounted for 83 of Brazil's 134 stories about harm, carried by 279 outlets. Reports of arrests ran at about 7 times the usual rate (87 stories). Anger in its coverage rose to about one and a half times its own usual.
34 of its 137 stories (25%) were about people being harmed, usually 17%. 11 of Wageningen's 15 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of arrests ran at about 4 times the usual rate (11 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as grief-stricken as the world's.
23 of its 57 stories (40%) were about people being harmed, usually 21%. Reports of abductions ran at more than ten times the usual rate (17 stories). Anger in its coverage rose to about one and a half times its own usual.
25 of its 87 stories (29%) were about people being harmed, usually 19%. Reports of evacuations ran at more than ten times the usual rate (15 stories). Flooding was named in 18 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual.
Reports of people injured ran at about three times the usual rate (23 stories). Storms were named in 47 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual. Grief in its coverage rose to about one and a half times its own usual.
Moscow accounted for 101 of Russia's 165 stories about harm, carried by 104 outlets. Reports of abductions ran at about three times the usual rate (5 stories). Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's.
26 of its 42 stories (62%) were about people being harmed, usually 18%. Reports of refugees ran at more than ten times the usual rate (23 stories).
16 of its 46 stories (35%) were about people being harmed, usually 12%. Reports of people killed ran at about three times the usual rate (6 stories).
19 of its 44 stories (43%) were about people being harmed, usually 25%. Reports of people killed ran at about twice the usual rate (8 stories).
500 of its 1,085 stories (46%) were about people being harmed, usually 37%. Its coverage was about twice as fearful as the world's.
Also named far more than usual: storms in China (47 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); wildfires in Canada (45 of its stories, about three times its usual); food poisoning in US (79 of its stories, about 9 times its usual).
Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 5 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 14,560 stories about harm among 78,353 counted on 5 May.
Jordan's news mentioned flooding more than ten times as often as usual. 19 in every 100 of the day's 78,353 news stories were about people being harmed, as usual. For the second day running, the news turned to Brazil. Brazil stood out: 43% of its news was about people being harmed, usually 21%. A year earlier, on 5 May 2024, 20 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 about as 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.