We measure how the world's news covered people being harmed — and the help and hope within it.
113 of its 181 stories (62%) were about people being harmed, usually 32%. Kyiv accounted for 58 of Ukraine's 113 stories about harm, carried by 82 outlets. Reports of abductions ran at more than ten times the usual rate (39 stories). Its coverage was about three times as grief-stricken as the world's.
55 of its 84 stories (65%) were about people being harmed, usually 56%. Gaza accounted for 35 of Palestine's 55 stories about harm, carried by 32 outlets. Its coverage was about one and a half times as grief-stricken as the world's.
88 of its 380 stories (23%) were about people being harmed, usually 14%. Reports of people injured ran at about 4 times the usual rate (10 stories).
10 of its 15 stories (67%) were about people being harmed, usually 35%. Tripoli accounted for 10 of Libya's 10 stories about harm, carried by 11 outlets.
24 of its 58 stories (41%) were about people being harmed, usually 25%. Luanda accounted for 15 of Angola's 24 stories about harm, carried by 73 outlets. Reports of people killed ran at about twice the usual rate (22 stories).
13 of its 39 stories (33%) were about people being harmed, usually 14%. Reports of people killed ran at about 4 times the usual rate (9 stories).
36 of its 121 stories (30%) were about people being harmed, usually 18%. Reports of arrests ran at about three times the usual rate (9 stories).
10 of its 38 stories (26%) were about people being harmed, usually 14%. Reports of people killed ran at about twice the usual rate (7 stories).
Reports of arrests ran at about twice the usual rate (76 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as fearful as the world's.
Beirut accounted for 68 of Lebanon's 118 stories about harm, carried by 165 outlets. Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's.
Also named far more than usual: tornadoes in US (149 of its stories, about 4 times its usual); heatwave in India (17 of its stories, about 4 times its usual).
Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 18 Apr. 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 7,853 stories about harm among 46,562 counted on 18 Apr.
Reports of people freed or reunited, a sign of help, ran at about one and a half times the usual rate. 17 in every 100 of the day's 46,562 news stories were about people being harmed, as usual. In the US's news, mentions of tornadoes ran about 4 times their usual. Ukraine stood out: 62% of its news was about people being harmed, usually 32%. A year earlier, on 18 April 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 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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