We measure how the world's news covered people being harmed — and the help and hope within it.
195 of its 260 stories (75%) were about people being harmed, usually 39%. Bundibugyo accounted for 130 of Uganda's 195 stories about harm, carried by 362 outlets. Reports of people displaced ran at about 4 times the usual rate (6 stories). Its coverage was about twice as fearful as the world's.
260 of its 424 stories (61%) were about people being harmed, usually 43%. Havana accounted for 174 of Cuba's 260 stories about harm, carried by 485 outlets. Reports of refugees ran at about 6 times the usual rate (5 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as angry as the world's. Grief in its coverage rose to about twice its own usual.
18 of its 27 stories (67%) were about people being harmed, usually 35%. la Paz accounted for 16 of Bolivia's 18 stories about harm, carried by 104 outlets. 11 of la Paz's 16 stories were about protests or strikes.
24 of its 31 stories (77%) were about people being harmed, usually 40%. Vaavu Atoll accounted for 22 of the Maldives' 24 stories about harm, carried by 104 outlets.
34 of its 35 stories (97%) were about people being harmed, usually 67%. Ituri accounted for 20 of the DR Congo's 34 stories about harm, carried by 41 outlets. Reports of refugees ran at about 4 times the usual rate (6 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as grief-stricken as the world's.
52 of its 69 stories (75%) were about people being harmed, usually 60%. Reports of people affected ran at about twice the usual rate (18 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as fearful as the world's.
45 of Jerusalem's 90 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of abductions ran at about twice the usual rate (56 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as angry as the world's.
26 of its 58 stories (45%) were about people being harmed, usually 27%. Its coverage was about one and a half times as angry as the world's.
18 of its 53 stories (34%) were about people being harmed, usually 16%. Reports of people killed ran at about 5 times the usual rate (12 stories).
46 of its 135 stories (34%) were about people being harmed, usually 22%. Reports of people affected ran at about three times the usual rate (8 stories).
Also named far more than usual: earthquake in Türkiye (13 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); flooding in China (23 of its stories, about 7 times its usual); flooding in Australia (36 of its stories, about 6 times its usual); tornadoes in Canada (19 of its stories, about 10 times its usual); heatwave in UK (21 of its stories, about 6 times its usual).
Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 20 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 14,089 stories about harm among 82,579 counted on 20 May.
For the fifth day running, the news turned to Uganda. Stories about people being harmed made up 17 in every 100 of the day's 82,579 stories, as usual. Mentions of the earthquake ran more than ten times their usual in Türkiye's news. In Uganda, 75% of the news was about people being harmed, where 39% is usual. A year earlier, on 20 May 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 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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