We measure how the world's news covered people being harmed — and the help and hope within it.
289 of its 526 stories (55%) were about people being harmed, usually 39%. Buner accounted for 93 of Pakistan's 289 stories about harm, carried by 301 outlets. Reports of people affected ran at about three times the usual rate (88 stories). Train derailment was named in 13 of its stories about harm, about 4 times usual, with heatwave. Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's.
Tel Aviv accounted for 197 of Israel's 415 stories about harm, carried by 279 outlets. 114 of Tel Aviv's 197 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of evacuations ran at about 4 times the usual rate (23 stories). Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's.
21 of its 35 stories (60%) were about people being harmed, usually 32%. Reports of people affected ran at about 4 times the usual rate (8 stories). Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's.
20 of its 20 stories (100%) were about people being harmed, usually 65%. Reports of people injured ran at about three times the usual rate (13 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as angry as the world's.
40 of its 63 stories (63%) were about people being harmed, usually 20%. Reports of people killed ran at about 5 times the usual rate (21 stories). Drownings were named in 19 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual. Its coverage was about one and a half times as grief-stricken as the world's.
130 of its 175 stories (74%) were about people being harmed, usually 45%. Kathua accounted for 58 of Kashmir's 130 stories about harm, carried by 36 outlets. Reports of evacuations ran at more than ten times the usual rate (10 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as grief-stricken as the world's.
68 of its 165 stories (41%) were about people being harmed, usually 22%. Reports of people injured ran at more than ten times the usual rate (28 stories). Earthquake was named in 36 of its stories about harm, about 4 times usual. Its coverage was about one and a half times as fearful as the world's.
54 of its 225 stories (24%) were about people being harmed, usually 16%. Reports of evacuations ran at about three times the usual rate (12 stories). Wildfires were named in 35 of its stories about harm, about 4 times usual.
Gaza accounted for 110 of Palestine's 125 stories about harm, carried by 123 outlets. Reports of evacuations ran at about 4 times the usual rate (10 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as angry as the world's.
63 of its 73 stories (86%) were about people being harmed, usually 38%. Power cuts were named in 22 of its stories about harm, about 5 times usual.
Also named far more than usual: wildfires in Spain (35 of its stories, about 4 times its usual); earthquake in Indonesia (36 of its stories, about 4 times its usual); drownings in Bahamas (19 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); power cuts in Puerto Rico (22 of its stories, about 5 times its usual); hurricane in US (257 of its stories, about three times its usual).
Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 17 Aug. 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 8,244 stories about harm among 41,485 counted on 17 Aug.
For the second day running, the news turned to Pakistan. Stories about people being harmed made up 20 in every 100 of the day's 41,485 stories, as usual. Mentions of wildfires ran about 4 times their usual in Spain's news. In Pakistan, 55% of the news was about people being harmed, where 39% is usual. A year earlier, on 17 August 2024, 20 in every 100 stories were about people being harmed, the same as today. This week the news turned most often to Sudan, 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 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.