We measure how the world's news covered people being harmed — and the help and hope within it.
59 of its 104 stories (57%) were about people being harmed, usually 37%. Berea accounted for 40 of Syria's 59 stories about harm, carried by 157 outlets. Reports of people injured ran at about twice the usual rate (6 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as grief-stricken as the world's.
122 of its 347 stories (35%) were about people being harmed, usually 25%. Polio was named in 12 of its stories about harm, about 4 times usual. Its coverage was about one and a half times as fearful as the world's.
10 of its 26 stories (38%) were about people being harmed, usually 21%. Lusaka accounted for 10 of Zambia's 10 stories about harm, carried by 10 outlets. 6 of Lusaka's 10 stories were about protests or strikes.
11 of its 25 stories (44%) were about people being harmed, usually 18%. Reports of people killed ran at about three times the usual rate (6 stories).
304 of its 551 stories (55%) were about people being harmed, usually 48%. Reports of arrests ran at about 4 times the usual rate (89 stories). Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's.
Beirut accounted for 26 of Lebanon's 49 stories about harm, carried by 28 outlets. Reports of evacuations ran at about twice the usual rate (6 stories). Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's.
18 of its 53 stories (34%) were about people being harmed, usually 17%. Reports of people affected ran at about three times the usual rate (5 stories).
50 of its 93 stories (54%) were about people being harmed, usually 40%. Havana accounted for 29 of Cuba's 50 stories about harm, carried by 27 outlets.
18 of its 44 stories (41%) were about people being harmed, usually 27%. 4 of Phnom Penh's 8 stories were about protests or strikes.
8 of Baku's 13 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of refugees ran at about 6 times the usual rate (6 stories).
Also named far more than usual: illness in Sri Lanka (10 of its stories, about 5 times its usual); storms in India (53 of its stories, about 5 times its usual); house fires in Ireland (12 of its stories, about 7 times its usual); illness in Iran (21 of its stories, about 4 times its usual); hunger in Nigeria (15 of its stories, about 6 times its usual).
Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 1 May. 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 12,667 stories about harm among 74,585 counted on 1 May.
Mentions of the polio ran about 4 times their usual in Pakistan's news. of the day's 74,585 news stories, 17 in every 100 were about people being harmed, as usual. Syria stood out: 57% of its news was about people being harmed, usually 37%. A year earlier, on 1 May 2025, 18 in every 100 stories were about people being harmed, against 17 today. Over April, 17 in every 100 stories were about people being harmed, against 18 in April 2025.
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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