We measure how the world's news covered people being harmed — and the help and hope within it.
117 of its 183 stories (64%) were about people being harmed, usually 29%. Kathmandu accounted for 96 of Nepal's 117 stories about harm, carried by 123 outlets. 75 of Kathmandu's 96 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of arrests ran at about 10 times the usual rate (43 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as angry as the world's.
Tehran accounted for 369 of Iran's 667 stories about harm, carried by 673 outlets. Reports of people injured ran at about twice the usual rate (284 stories). Earthquake was named in 10 of its stories about harm, about 7 times usual, with power cuts. Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's.
36 of its 106 stories (34%) were about people being harmed, usually 26%. Abu Dhabi accounted for 23 of the United Arab Emirates' 36 stories about harm, carried by 27 outlets. Reports of people injured ran at about twice the usual rate (23 stories).
Reports of people falling ill ran at about twice the usual rate (6 stories). Road crashes were named in 78 of its stories about harm, about 6 times usual, with helicopter crash.
88 of its 110 stories (80%) were about people being harmed, usually 65%. Beirut accounted for 50 of Lebanon's 88 stories about harm, carried by 94 outlets. Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's.
77 of its 327 stories (24%) were about people being harmed, usually 13%. Reports of arrests ran at about twice the usual rate (8 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as fearful as the world's.
64 of its 200 stories (32%) were about people being harmed, usually 25%. 4 of Johannesburg's 8 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of arrests ran at about three times the usual rate (25 stories).
6 of its 9 stories (67%) were about people being harmed, usually 13%. Reports of people injured ran at about 8 times the usual rate (6 stories).
36 of its 128 stories (28%) were about people being harmed, usually 20%. Reports of people injured ran at about 4 times the usual rate (22 stories).
Reports of people affected ran at about 5 times the usual rate (23 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as grief-stricken as the world's.
Also named far more than usual: cyclone in Australia (28 of its stories, about 4 times its usual); earthquake in India (33 of its stories, more than ten times its usual).
Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 28 Mar. 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 8,164 stories about harm among 47,317 counted on 28 Mar.
Nepal stood out: 64% of its news was about people being harmed, usually 29%. 17 in every 100 of the day's 47,317 news stories were about people being harmed, below the usual 18. On 28 March 2025, a year earlier, the share was 18 in every 100, 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 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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