We measure how the world's news covered people being harmed — and the help and hope within it.
38 of its 63 stories (60%) were about people being harmed, usually 19%. Bubiyan Island accounted for 34 of Kuwait's 38 stories about harm, carried by 33 outlets. Reports of arrests ran at about 5 times the usual rate (33 stories). Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's.
170 of its 589 stories (29%) were about people being harmed, usually 21%. Reports of evacuations ran at about twice the usual rate (60 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as fearful as the world's.
25 of its 69 stories (36%) were about people being harmed, usually 19%. Reports of people affected ran at about 5 times the usual rate (9 stories).
29 of its 37 stories (78%) were about people being harmed, usually 64%. Its coverage was about one and a half times as grief-stricken as the world's.
38 of its 65 stories (58%) were about people being harmed, usually 47%. Kabul accounted for 25 of Afghanistan's 38 stories about harm, carried by 20 outlets. Its coverage was about one and a half times as fearful as the world's.
189 of its 571 stories (33%) were about people being harmed, usually 27%. Reports of people injured ran at about three times the usual rate (65 stories). Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's. Anger in its coverage rose to about one and a half times its own usual.
70 of its 110 stories (64%) were about people being harmed, usually 56%. Beirut accounted for 42 of Lebanon's 70 stories about harm, carried by 47 outlets. Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's.
Jerusalem accounted for 126 of Israel's 383 stories about harm, carried by 226 outlets. Reports of abductions ran at about three times the usual rate (60 stories). Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's.
101 of its 250 stories (40%) were about people being harmed, usually 22%. Reports of evacuations ran at about 4 times the usual rate (29 stories).
20 of its 93 stories (22%) were about people being harmed, usually 14%. Reports of people affected ran at about three times the usual rate (5 stories).
Also named far more than usual: illness in Türkiye (13 of its stories, about 4 times its usual); storms in South Africa (23 of its stories, about 4 times its usual); outbreaks in US (332 of its stories, about three times its usual); food poisoning in Ireland (12 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); flu in Canada (11 of its stories, about 4 times its usual).
Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 12 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 14,111 stories about harm among 82,076 counted on 12 May.
Kuwait stood out: 60% of its news was about people being harmed, usually 19%. 17 in every 100 of the day's 82,076 news stories were about people being harmed, as usual. In South Africa's news, mentions of storms ran about 4 times their usual. On 12 May 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 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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