We measure how the world's news covered people being harmed — and the help and hope within it.
73 of its 163 stories (45%) were about people being harmed, usually 23%. Colombo accounted for 33 of Sri Lanka's 73 stories about harm, carried by 19 outlets. Reports of people injured ran at more than ten times the usual rate (35 stories). Its coverage was about twice as fearful as the world's. Grief in its coverage rose to about twice its own usual.
10 of its 17 stories (59%) were about people being harmed, usually 28%. Reports of arrests ran at about three times the usual rate (8 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as grief-stricken as the world's.
24 of Islamabad's 48 stories were about protests or strikes. Polio was named in 11 of its stories about harm, about 6 times usual. Its coverage was about one and a half times as fearful as the world's.
98 of its 253 stories (39%) were about people being harmed, usually 20%. Hurricane was named in 60 of its stories about harm, about 7 times usual, with storms, flooding and tropical storm.
90 of its 209 stories (43%) were about people being harmed, usually 26%. Manisa accounted for 43 of Türkiye's 90 stories about harm, carried by 42 outlets. Reports of people injured ran at more than ten times the usual rate (67 stories). Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's.
46 of its 75 stories (61%) were about people being harmed, usually 49%. Kabul accounted for 19 of Afghanistan's 46 stories about harm, carried by 51 outlets. Reports of people injured ran at about three times the usual rate (24 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as angry as the world's.
16 of its 46 stories (35%) were about people being harmed, usually 14%. Reports of people affected ran at about twice the usual rate (6 stories).
11 of its 24 stories (46%) were about people being harmed, usually 21%. Reports of people affected ran at more than ten times the usual rate (5 stories).
17 of its 37 stories (46%) were about people being harmed, usually 28%. Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's.
12 of its 23 stories (52%) were about people being harmed, usually 31%. Reports of arrests ran at about 10 times the usual rate (5 stories).
Also named far more than usual: typhoon in Japan (24 of its stories, about 9 times its usual); drought in Indonesia (16 of its stories, about 6 times its usual); road crashes in France (11 of its stories, about three times its usual); road crashes in UK (71 of its stories, about 4 times its usual); drownings in US (87 of its stories, about 5 times its usual).
Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 22 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 12,799 stories about harm among 69,378 counted on 22 Sep.
18 in every 100 of the day's 69,378 news stories were about people being harmed, as usual. A year earlier, on 22 September 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.
Each country shaded by how much of its news was about people being harmed, against the world's 18 in 100 that day. Stronger colour: further above. A country with few stories is drawn closer to the world's. Click a country.
Stories, not people. Countries with at least 50 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 about as 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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