We measure how the world's news covered people being harmed — and the help and hope within it.
34 of its 112 stories (30%) were about people being harmed, usually 15%. Lima accounted for 21 of Peru's 34 stories about harm, carried by 62 outlets. 11 of Lima's 21 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of people injured ran at about 6 times the usual rate (9 stories).
185 of its 791 stories (23%) were about people being harmed, usually 15%. Reports of arrests ran at about 4 times the usual rate (53 stories). Flooding was named in 18 of its stories about harm, about three times usual. Its coverage was about one and a half times as angry as the world's.
43 of its 68 stories (63%) were about people being harmed, usually 45%. Kabul accounted for 21 of Afghanistan's 43 stories about harm, carried by 27 outlets. Reports of refugees ran at about 6 times the usual rate (11 stories).
28 of its 46 stories (61%) were about people being harmed, usually 32%. Extreme cold was named in 21 of its stories about harm, about 10 times usual.
21 of its 39 stories (54%) were about people being harmed, usually 37%. Reports of refugees ran at about 7 times the usual rate (5 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as angry as the world's.
19 of its 57 stories (33%) were about people being harmed, usually 17%. Its coverage was about one and a half times as grief-stricken as the world's.
22 of its 60 stories (37%) were about people being harmed, usually 26%. Reports of people displaced ran at about three times the usual rate (11 stories).
Reports of evacuations ran at more than ten times the usual rate (11 stories). Anger in its coverage rose to about one and a half times its own usual.
Reports of people affected ran at about three times the usual rate (6 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as fearful as the world's.
5 of Colombo's 9 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of people killed ran at about twice the usual rate (8 stories).
Also named far more than usual: snowstorms in Canada (42 of its stories, about three times its usual); storms in Ireland (14 of its stories, about three times its usual); avalanche in US (318 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); flu in Australia (10 of its stories, about 4 times its usual).
Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 18 Feb. 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 14,951 stories about harm among 86,283 counted on 18 Feb.
Mentions of extreme cold ran about 10 times their usual in Antarctica's news. of the day's 86,283 news stories, 17 in every 100 were about people being harmed, as usual. Peru stood out: 30% of its news was about people being harmed, usually 15%. A year earlier, on 18 February 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?
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.