We measure how the world's news covered people being harmed — and the help and hope within it.
242 of its 567 stories (43%) were about people being harmed, usually 19%. Reports of people injured ran at about 4 times the usual rate (116 stories). Accidents were named in 71 of its stories about harm, about 5 times usual. Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's.
71 of its 107 stories (66%) were about people being harmed, usually 42%. Kabul accounted for 63 of Afghanistan's 71 stories about harm, carried by 83 outlets. Reports of people injured ran at about 4 times the usual rate (43 stories). Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's.
Tehran accounted for 143 of Iran's 244 stories about harm, carried by 249 outlets. 127 of Tehran's 143 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of abductions ran at about 4 times the usual rate (7 stories). Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's.
Reports of arrests ran at about 4 times the usual rate (9 stories). Extreme cold was named in 20 of its stories about harm, about three times usual. Its coverage was about one and a half times as angry as the world's.
52 of its 108 stories (48%) were about people being harmed, usually 29%. Jammu accounted for 33 of Kashmir's 52 stories about harm, carried by 21 outlets. Reports of people injured ran at about 5 times the usual rate (18 stories). Its coverage was about twice as fearful as the world's.
14 of its 26 stories (54%) were about people being harmed, usually 16%. Reports of people killed ran at about 5 times the usual rate (13 stories). Flooding was named in 12 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual.
Damascus accounted for 69 of Syria's 152 stories about harm, carried by 78 outlets. Reports of arrests ran at about twice the usual rate (29 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as fearful as the world's.
Jerusalem accounted for 116 of Israel's 218 stories about harm, carried by 252 outlets. Reports of evacuations ran at about twice the usual rate (8 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as grief-stricken as the world's.
26 of its 27 stories (96%) were about people being harmed, usually 31%. Reports of people affected ran at about three times the usual rate (15 stories).
37 of its 90 stories (41%) were about people being harmed, usually 26%. Reports of people killed ran at about three times the usual rate (31 stories).
Also named far more than usual: flooding in Tunisia (12 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); storms in Greece (12 of its stories, about 5 times its usual); covid in South Korea (11 of its stories, about 5 times its usual); plane crash in Indonesia (10 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); extreme cold in US (173 of its stories, about 4 times its usual).
Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 20 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 14,259 stories about harm among 82,883 counted on 20 Jan.
In Tunisia's news, mentions of flooding ran more than ten times their usual. Stories about people being harmed made up 17 in every 100 of the day's 82,883 stories, below the usual 19. It was the second day running that the news turned to Spain. In Spain, 43% of the news was about people being harmed, where 19% is usual. A year earlier, on 20 January 2025, 19 in every 100 stories were about people being harmed, against 17 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 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?
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