We measure how the world's news covered people being harmed — and the help and hope within it.
75 of its 153 stories (49%) were about people being harmed, usually 15%. Buggenhout accounted for 71 of Belgium's 75 stories about harm, carried by 258 outlets. Reports of people injured ran at more than ten times the usual rate (31 stories). Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's.
122 of its 218 stories (56%) were about people being harmed, usually 49%. Bundibugyo accounted for 72 of Uganda's 122 stories about harm, carried by 160 outlets. Reports of people injured ran at about 5 times the usual rate (10 stories). Its coverage was about twice as fearful as the world's.
131 of its 296 stories (44%) were about people being harmed, usually 37%. Kyiv accounted for 106 of Ukraine's 131 stories about harm, carried by 133 outlets. Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's.
89 of its 363 stories (25%) were about people being harmed, usually 13%. Reports of evacuations ran at more than ten times the usual rate (6 stories).
55 of its 134 stories (41%) were about people being harmed, usually 28%. Reports of people affected ran at about three times the usual rate (14 stories).
10 of its 33 stories (30%) were about people being harmed, usually 17%. 4 of Karlovy Vary's 4 stories were about protests or strikes.
Ituri accounted for 15 of the DR Congo's 23 stories about harm, carried by 16 outlets. Its coverage was about one and a half times as fearful as the world's.
Reports of arrests ran at about twice the usual rate (10 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as angry as the world's.
Heatwave was named in 184 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual, with flooding, storms and heatstroke. Its coverage was about one and a half times as fearful as the world's.
Reports of arrests ran at about twice the usual rate (14 stories). Heatwave was named in 22 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual, with drownings.
Also named far more than usual: heatwave in UK (184 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); heatwave in France (22 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); ebola in Canada (14 of its stories, about three times its usual); accidents in US (16 of its stories, about 6 times its usual).
Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 26 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 12,615 stories about harm among 71,467 counted on 26 May.
In Belgium, 49% of the news was about people being harmed, where 15% is usual. Stories about people being harmed made up 18 in every 100 of the day's 71,467 stories, as usual. A year earlier, on 26 May 2025, 19 in every 100 stories were about people being harmed, against 18 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?
Unlock a year of trends, free. Follow up to 5 countries, with a bell when their news changes, and 👍 vote for Pro — ten years of the archive, any period, daily alerts.
Create a free accountSign in · a username, an email and a password.