We measure how the world's news covered people being harmed — and the help and hope within it.
268 of its 676 stories (40%) were about people being harmed, usually 13%. the Canary Islands accounted for 183 of Spain's 268 stories about harm, carried by 543 outlets. Reports of evacuations ran at more than ten times the usual rate (149 stories). Flu was named in 18 of its stories about harm, about 4 times usual, with respiratory illness. Its coverage was about one and a half times as fearful as the world's.
87 of its 124 stories (70%) were about people being harmed, usually 59%. Beirut accounted for 44 of Lebanon's 87 stories about harm, carried by 36 outlets. Reports of evacuations ran at about three times the usual rate (13 stories). Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's.
7 of its 8 stories (88%) were about people being harmed, usually 39%.
4 of Brussels' 8 stories were about protests or strikes.
62 of its 107 stories (58%) were about people being harmed, usually 22%. Reports of evacuations ran at about 6 times the usual rate (22 stories). Haemorrhagic fever was named in 10 of its stories about harm, about 6 times usual. Its coverage was about one and a half times as fearful as the world's.
250 of its 698 stories (36%) were about people being harmed, usually 26%. Reports of evacuations ran at about three times the usual rate (28 stories). Storms were named in 25 of its stories about harm, about 6 times usual, with heavy rain. Its coverage was about one and a half times as fearful as the world's.
20 of its 23 stories (87%) were about people being harmed, usually 31%. Bird flu was named in 19 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual, with flu and norovirus. Its coverage was about one and a half times as fearful as the world's.
124 of its 236 stories (53%) were about people being harmed, usually 35%. Kyiv accounted for 66 of Ukraine's 124 stories about harm, carried by 178 outlets. Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's.
44 of its 49 stories (90%) were about people being harmed, usually 61%. Praia accounted for 32 of Cape Verde's 44 stories about harm, carried by 191 outlets. Its coverage was about one and a half times as fearful as the world's.
67 of its 196 stories (34%) were about people being harmed, usually 18%. Reports of evacuations ran at more than ten times the usual rate (25 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as fearful as the world's.
Also named far more than usual: bird flu in Antarctica (19 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); haemorrhagic fever in Argentina (10 of its stories, about 6 times its usual); storms in South Africa (25 of its stories, about 6 times its usual); tsunami in US (30 of its stories, about three times its usual).
Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 6 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 14,352 stories about harm among 84,521 counted on 6 May.
Spain stood out: 40% of its news was about people being harmed, usually 13%. 17 in every 100 of the day's 84,521 news stories were about people being harmed, as usual. Reports of evacuations ran at about three times the usual rate, most often about Spain and the US. Antarctica's news mentioned bird flu more than ten times as often as usual. A year earlier, on 6 May 2025, 18 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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