We measure how the world's news covered people being harmed — and the help and hope within it.
607 of its 876 stories (69%) were about people being harmed, usually 38%. Riyadh accounted for 545 of Saudi Arabia's 607 stories about harm, carried by 570 outlets. Reports of people injured ran at about 4 times the usual rate (506 stories). Hurricane was named in 13 of its stories about harm, about three times usual. Its coverage was about three times as angry as the world's. Grief in its coverage rose to about one and a half times its own usual.
43 of its 48 stories (90%) were about people being harmed, usually 44%. Obock accounted for 33 of Djibouti's 43 stories about harm, carried by 45 outlets. Reports of people killed ran at about three times the usual rate (42 stories). Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's.
18 of its 36 stories (50%) were about people being harmed, usually 23%. Pyongyang accounted for 17 of North Korea's 18 stories about harm, carried by 33 outlets. Reports of people injured ran at about three times the usual rate (18 stories).
28 of its 113 stories (25%) were about people being harmed, usually 17%. Reports of people killed ran at about three times the usual rate (14 stories). Anger in its coverage rose to about one and a half times its own usual.
Kyiv accounted for 90 of Ukraine's 161 stories about harm, carried by 102 outlets. Reports of people displaced ran at about 5 times the usual rate (12 stories). Illness was named in 12 of its stories about harm, about three times usual. Its coverage was about one and a half times as angry as the world's. Warmth in its coverage rose to about one and a half times its own usual.
78 of its 106 stories (74%) were about people being harmed, usually 61%. Gorkha accounted for 48 of Nepal's 78 stories about harm, carried by 190 outlets. Reports of evacuations ran at about 5 times the usual rate (6 stories).
42 of its 57 stories (74%) were about people being harmed, usually 58%. Reports of arrests ran at about three times the usual rate (5 stories). Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's.
119 of its 302 stories (39%) were about people being harmed, usually 31%. Reports of arrests ran at about three times the usual rate (26 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as angry as the world's.
42 of its 82 stories (51%) were about people being harmed, usually 34%. Reports of arrests ran at about 4 times the usual rate (14 stories).
27 of its 43 stories (63%) were about people being harmed, usually 40%. Reports of people affected ran at about three times the usual rate (9 stories).
Also named far more than usual: storm surge in Mexico (21 of its stories, about 6 times its usual); covid in New Zealand (10 of its stories, about 4 times its usual); illness in Ukraine (12 of its stories, about three times its usual); tuberculosis in US (19 of its stories, about 4 times its usual).
Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 12 Oct. 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 12,057 stories about harm among 60,285 counted on 12 Oct.
The news turned to Saudi Arabia for the fifth day running. 20 in every 100 of the day's 60,285 news stories were about people being harmed, above the usual 19. In Saudi Arabia, 69% of the news was about people being harmed, where 38% is usual. A year earlier, on 12 October 2025, 19 in every 100 stories were about people being harmed, against 20 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 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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