We measure how the world's news covered people being harmed — and the help and hope within it.
203 of its 336 stories (60%) were about people being harmed, usually 47%. Tehran accounted for 141 of Iran's 203 stories about harm, carried by 155 outlets. 128 of Tehran's 141 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of people affected ran at about three times the usual rate (14 stories). Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's.
115 of its 224 stories (51%) were about people being harmed, usually 35%. Havana accounted for 76 of Cuba's 115 stories about harm, carried by 242 outlets. Reports of people killed ran at about 6 times the usual rate (94 stories). Its coverage was about three times as grief-stricken as the world's.
74 of its 387 stories (19%) were about people being harmed, usually 13%. Illness was named in 40 of its stories about harm, about 4 times usual. Fear in its coverage rose to about one and a half times its own usual.
52 of its 163 stories (32%) were about people being harmed, usually 17%. Amsterdam accounted for 36 of the Netherlands' 52 stories about harm, carried by 50 outlets.
36 of its 59 stories (61%) were about people being harmed, usually 33%. Reports of evacuations ran at about 10 times the usual rate (7 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as fearful as the world's.
Kyiv accounted for 42 of Ukraine's 72 stories about harm, carried by 62 outlets. Reports of evacuations ran at about 5 times the usual rate (12 stories). Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's.
95 of its 222 stories (43%) were about people being harmed, usually 34%. Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's.
85 of its 351 stories (24%) were about people being harmed, usually 16%. Power cuts were named in 20 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual.
24 of its 71 stories (34%) were about people being harmed, usually 23%. Reports of arrests ran at about three times the usual rate (8 stories).
83 of its 309 stories (27%) were about people being harmed, usually 20%. Reports of people affected ran at about three times the usual rate (25 stories).
Also named far more than usual: hepatitis in Denmark (21 of its stories, about 5 times its usual); power cuts in Germany (20 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); flooding in Spain (10 of its stories, about 4 times its usual); covid in Japan (10 of its stories, about 6 times its usual); outbreaks in Israel (16 of its stories, about 7 times its usual).
Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 5 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 12,875 stories about harm among 71,946 counted on 5 Jan.
For the sixth day running, the news turned to Iran. Stories about people being harmed made up 18 in every 100 of the day's 71,946 stories, as usual. Mentions of hepatitis ran about 5 times their usual in Denmark's news. A year earlier, on 5 January 2025, 21 in every 100 stories were about people being harmed, against 18 today. Iran stood out: 60% of its news was about people being harmed, usually 47%.
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?
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