We measure how the world's news covered people being harmed — and the help and hope within it.
241 of its 388 stories (62%) were about people being harmed, usually 56%. Gaza accounted for 216 of Palestine's 241 stories about harm, carried by 370 outlets. Reports of arrests ran at about three times the usual rate (54 stories). Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's. Warmth in its coverage rose to about one and a half times its own usual.
47 of its 81 stories (58%) were about people being harmed, usually 31%. Reports of people killed ran at about three times the usual rate (32 stories). Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's.
29 of its 72 stories (40%) were about people being harmed, usually 27%. Tbilisi accounted for 26 of Georgia's 29 stories about harm, carried by 90 outlets. 25 of Tbilisi's 26 stories were about protests or strikes.
50 of its 225 stories (22%) were about people being harmed, usually 15%. Poisoning was named in 21 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual, with drownings. Its coverage was about one and a half times as grief-stricken as the world's.
96 of its 185 stories (52%) were about people being harmed, usually 28%. Reports of people affected ran at about 4 times the usual rate (25 stories). Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's.
82 of its 293 stories (28%) were about people being harmed, usually 16%. Munich accounted for 56 of Germany's 82 stories about harm, carried by 234 outlets. Reports of people affected ran at about 9 times the usual rate (60 stories).
Reports of abductions ran at about three times the usual rate (11 stories). Heavy rain was named in 84 of its stories about harm, about 4 times usual, with power cuts and building collapse. Its coverage was about one and a half times as fearful as the world's.
23 of Barcelona's 23 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of abductions ran at more than ten times the usual rate (13 stories). Hunger was named in 18 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual.
Kathmandu accounted for 17 of Nepal's 21 stories about harm, carried by 28 outlets. Landslides were named in 10 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual. Its coverage was about one and a half times as fearful as the world's.
15 of its 20 stories (75%) were about people being harmed, usually 47%. Mogadishu accounted for 11 of Somalia's 15 stories about harm, carried by 14 outlets.
Also named far more than usual: hunger in Spain (18 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); road crashes in United Arab Emirates (12 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); flooding in Ireland (28 of its stories, about 4 times its usual); landslides in Nepal (10 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); heavy rain in UK (84 of its stories, about 4 times its usual).
Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 4 Oct. 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 9,390 stories about harm among 48,972 counted on 4 Oct.
On the side of help, reports of people freed or reunited ran at about three times the usual rate. Stories about people being harmed made up 19 in every 100 of the day's 48,972 stories, as usual. Mentions of poisoning ran more than ten times their usual in Singapore's news. Abductions were reported at about three times the usual rate, most often about Israel and Palestine. A year earlier, on 4 October 2024, 19 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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