We measure how the world's news covered people being harmed — and the help and hope within it.
47 of its 85 stories (55%) were about people being harmed, usually 17%. Fagersta accounted for 34 of Sweden's 47 stories about harm, carried by 91 outlets. Reports of people injured ran at more than ten times the usual rate (41 stories). Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's.
22 of its 48 stories (46%) were about people being harmed, usually 17%. Reports of people killed ran at about 6 times the usual rate (17 stories). Drought was named in 18 of its stories about harm, about 7 times usual, with heavy rain. Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's.
21 of its 23 stories (91%) were about people being harmed, usually 36%. Reports of people affected ran at more than ten times the usual rate (17 stories).
9 of its 13 stories (69%) were about people being harmed, usually 22%. Reports of people killed ran at about twice the usual rate (8 stories).
134 of its 234 stories (57%) were about people being harmed, usually 43%. Kyiv accounted for 99 of Ukraine's 134 stories about harm, carried by 154 outlets. Reports of people affected ran at about 4 times the usual rate (53 stories). Its coverage was about three times as angry as the world's.
13 of its 19 stories (68%) were about people being harmed, usually 44%. Reports of people injured ran at about twice the usual rate (8 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as grief-stricken as the world's.
96 of its 218 stories (44%) were about people being harmed, usually 36%. Reports of people affected ran at about three times the usual rate (19 stories). Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's.
43 of its 73 stories (59%) were about people being harmed, usually 46%. Havana accounted for 20 of Cuba's 43 stories about harm, carried by 4 outlets.
22 of its 66 stories (33%) were about people being harmed, usually 23%. 7 of Lilongwe's 12 stories were about protests or strikes.
Reports of evacuations ran at about three times the usual rate (6 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as fearful as the world's.
Also named far more than usual: wildfires in Indonesia (14 of its stories, about 7 times its usual); flu in India (19 of its stories, about 6 times its usual); food poisoning in UK (12 of its stories, about 4 times its usual); avalanche in US (10 of its stories, about three times its usual).
Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 22 Aug. 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 7,645 stories about harm among 39,316 counted on 22 Aug.
Sweden stood out: 55% of its news was about people being harmed, usually 17%. 19 in every 100 of the day's 39,316 news stories were about people being harmed, as usual. For the second day running, the news turned to Sweden. Belgium's news mentioned the drought about 7 times as often as usual. A year earlier, on 22 August 2025, 18 in every 100 stories were about people being harmed, against 19 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 harsher 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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