We measure how the world's news covered people being harmed — and the help and hope within it.
98 of its 197 stories (50%) were about people being harmed, usually 32%. Bangkok accounted for 69 of Thailand's 98 stories about harm, carried by 106 outlets. Reports of people injured ran at about twice the usual rate (43 stories). Earthquake was named in 23 of its stories about harm, about 5 times usual. Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's.
Tehran accounted for 646 of Iran's 987 stories about harm, carried by 693 outlets. 579 of Tehran's 646 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of evacuations ran at about 4 times the usual rate (9 stories). Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's.
62 of its 130 stories (48%) were about people being harmed, usually 29%. Kampala accounted for 44 of Uganda's 62 stories about harm, carried by 141 outlets. Reports of refugees ran at about 4 times the usual rate (6 stories).
44 of its 169 stories (26%) were about people being harmed, usually 12%. Its coverage was about one and a half times as grief-stricken as the world's.
Havana accounted for 26 of Cuba's 46 stories about harm, carried by 54 outlets. Reports of people injured ran at about 8 times the usual rate (11 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as grief-stricken as the world's.
15 of its 30 stories (50%) were about people being harmed, usually 32%. Reports of people injured ran at about 5 times the usual rate (5 stories).
88 of its 417 stories (21%) were about people being harmed, usually 14%. Reports of people injured ran at about three times the usual rate (8 stories).
11 of its 25 stories (44%) were about people being harmed, usually 27%. 6 of Tbilisi's 10 stories were about protests or strikes.
26 of its 68 stories (38%) were about people being harmed, usually 29%. Reports of people killed ran at about twice the usual rate (10 stories).
3 of Minsk's 6 stories were about protests or strikes. Its coverage was about one and a half times as fearful as the world's.
Also named far more than usual: drownings in Singapore (11 of its stories, about 6 times its usual); illness in Russia (14 of its stories, about three times its usual); heavy rain in South Africa (13 of its stories, about 4 times its usual); earthquake in Israel (11 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); nipah virus in India (10 of its stories, about 5 times its usual).
Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 15 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 15,086 stories about harm among 86,022 counted on 15 Jan.
The share of stories about people being harmed was the lowest since 12 December 2025. 18 in every 100 of the day's 86,022 news stories were about people being harmed, below the usual 19. For the second day running, the news turned to Thailand. Thailand's news mentioned the earthquake about 5 times as often as usual. Thailand's news was 50% about people being harmed, against a usual 32%.
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 much 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?
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.