We measure how the world's news covered people being harmed — and the help and hope within it.
213 of its 640 stories (33%) were about people being harmed, usually 24%. Johannesburg accounted for 100 of South Africa's 213 stories about harm, carried by 39 outlets. Reports of refugees ran at about three times the usual rate (5 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as grief-stricken as the world's.
234 of its 594 stories (39%) were about people being harmed, usually 32%. Tehran accounted for 78 of Iran's 234 stories about harm, carried by 146 outlets. Reports of evacuations ran at about 9 times the usual rate (12 stories). Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's.
Gaza accounted for 148 of Palestine's 194 stories about harm, carried by 282 outlets. 84 of Gaza's 148 stories were about protests or strikes. Hunger was named in 36 of its stories about harm, about 9 times usual. Its coverage was about one and a half times as angry as the world's.
28 of its 85 stories (33%) were about people being harmed, usually 14%. Reports of evacuations ran at more than ten times the usual rate (15 stories).
17 of its 31 stories (55%) were about people being harmed, usually 15%. 4 of Minsk's 8 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of arrests ran at about 5 times the usual rate (10 stories).
215 of its 553 stories (39%) were about people being harmed, usually 25%. Reports of people affected ran at about 4 times the usual rate (43 stories). Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's.
42 of its 126 stories (33%) were about people being harmed, usually 24%. 11 of Istanbul's 18 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of arrests ran at about twice the usual rate (22 stories).
8 of its 10 stories (80%) were about people being harmed, usually 36%. Reports of people killed ran at about three times the usual rate (5 stories).
15 of its 35 stories (43%) were about people being harmed, usually 27%. Reports of people displaced ran at about 5 times the usual rate (6 stories).
Reports of refugees ran at about three times the usual rate (9 stories). Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's. Fear in its coverage rose to about one and a half times its own usual.
Also named far more than usual: drought in Sudan (11 of its stories, about 9 times its usual); respiratory illness in US (89 of its stories, about 4 times its usual).
Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 15 Sep. 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 12,650 stories about harm among 72,122 counted on 15 Sep.
The share of stories about people being harmed was the lowest since 1 July 2026. 18 in every 100 of the day's 72,122 news stories were about people being harmed, below the usual 19. For the second day running, the news turned to South Africa. Palestine's news mentioned the hunger about 9 times as often as usual. South Africa's news was 33% about people being harmed, against a usual 24%.
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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