← 21 May Sunday 22 May 2016 · to 23:59 UTC 23 May →
What the world's news said happened to people.
Counts of coverage, not of suffering
34,106 stories about harm· Trends· Every past day

We measure how the world's news covered people being harmed — and the help and hope within it.

How to read these numbers →

Protests in Hanoi (Vietnam), deaths in Santiago and people displaced in Indonesia drew the news. Chile's coverage was about three times as grief-stricken as the world's. Across the world, the tone of the words was much harsher than usual.

Help and hope: reports of peace efforts ran at about twice the usual rate →
Part of lifeConflict & violence 29 in 100 of the stories about harm · much more than usual Country that rose mostChile 77 in 100 of its 276 stories, usually 27
RegionCentral Asia 39 in 100 of its stories, usually 20
Tone of the words Much harsher than usual across the world's stories about harm

What the world's news was about today

how these are picked →
Protests & strikes

Vietnam

707 of its 1,263 stories (56%) were about people being harmed, usually 27%. 262 of Hanoi's 436 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of evacuations ran at about 8 times the usual rate (15 stories). Plane crash was named in 15 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual. Fear in its coverage rose to about one and a half times its own usual.

Deaths & injuries, cause not given

Chile

212 of its 276 stories (77%) were about people being harmed, usually 27%. Santiago accounted for 166 of Chile's 212 stories about harm, carried by 219 outlets. Reports of people killed ran at about 5 times the usual rate (200 stories). Its coverage was about three times as grief-stricken as the world's. Anger in its coverage rose to about one and a half times its own usual.

Disasters & accidents

Indonesia

595 of its 757 stories (79%) were about people being harmed, usually 37%. Reports of people displaced ran at more than ten times the usual rate (29 stories). Avalanche was named in 13 of its stories about harm, about 10 times usual. Its coverage was about one and a half times as angry as the world's.

Conflict & violence

North Korea

106 of its 151 stories (70%) were about people being harmed, usually 19%. Pyongyang accounted for 102 of North Korea's 106 stories about harm, carried by 107 outlets. Reports of people killed ran at more than ten times the usual rate (96 stories). Its coverage was about three times as grief-stricken as the world's.

6 more places the news pointed at
Disasters & accidents

Bangladesh

373 of its 610 stories (61%) were about people being harmed, usually 52%. Reports of evacuations ran at more than ten times the usual rate (121 stories). Storm surge was named in 93 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual, with flooding, heavy rain and drownings. Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's.

Conflict & violence

Japan

264 of its 1,090 stories (24%) were about people being harmed, usually 17%. Reports of abductions ran at about 9 times the usual rate (7 stories). Flu was named in 12 of its stories about harm, about 7 times usual. Anger in its coverage rose to about one and a half times its own usual.

Disasters & accidents

Sri Lanka

407 of its 600 stories (68%) were about people being harmed, usually 43%. Colombo accounted for 283 of Sri Lanka's 407 stories about harm, carried by 266 outlets. Reports of people affected ran at about twice the usual rate (301 stories).

Conflict & violence

Austria

594 of its 1,253 stories (47%) were about people being harmed, usually 24%. Reports of people injured ran at more than ten times the usual rate (413 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as angry as the world's.

Protests & strikes

Kazakhstan

45 of its 89 stories (51%) were about people being harmed, usually 20%. 36 of Almaty's 37 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of arrests ran at about 4 times the usual rate (40 stories).

Protests & strikes

Thailand

240 of its 504 stories (48%) were about people being harmed, usually 26%. Bangkok accounted for 216 of Thailand's 240 stories about harm, carried by 182 outlets. 188 of Bangkok's 216 stories were about protests or strikes.

Also named far more than usual: hypothermia in Nepal (267 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); flooding in Mexico (143 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); storm surge in Bangladesh (93 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); avalanche in Australia (108 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); malaria in Kenya (16 of its stories, more than ten times its usual).

23 in 100 stories were about harm

usually 20; 22 the day before
23 in 10018 in 10023 Apr30 Apr7 May14 May22 May23 Apr: 21 in 10024 Apr: 21 in 10025 Apr: 19 in 10026 Apr: 19 in 10027 Apr: 18 in 10028 Apr: 19 in 10029 Apr: 19 in 10030 Apr: 19 in 1001 May: 20 in 1002 May: 19 in 1003 May: 19 in 1004 May: 20 in 1005 May: 20 in 1006 May: 18 in 1007 May: 21 in 1008 May: 22 in 1009 May: 20 in 10010 May: 20 in 10011 May: 19 in 10012 May: 19 in 10013 May: 19 in 10014 May: 22 in 10015 May: 22 in 10016 May: 19 in 10017 May: 20 in 10018 May: 20 in 10019 May: 20 in 10020 May: 20 in 10021 May: 22 in 10022 May: 23 in 100 · this day

Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 22 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 34,106 stories about harm among 150,916 counted on 22 May.

Read the day's briefing

The share of stories about people being harmed was the highest since 17 April 2016. 23 in every 100 of the day's 150,916 news stories were about people being harmed, above the usual 20. On the side of help, reports of peace efforts ran at about twice the usual rate. Nepal's news mentioned the hypothermia more than ten times as often as usual. Vietnam's news was 56% about people being harmed, against a usual 27%. This week the news turned most often to Sri Lanka, on 4 of 7 days; help rose on 4 of them.

Written by code from the day's numbers.

Where it happened

feelings in full →
Feelings Events Harm Warmth
Manipur, India -- attacks & violence: 129 stories, carried by 114 outlets; harsh wording in 98 in 100Damascus, Syria -- attacks & violence: 226 stories, carried by 134 outlets; harsh wording in 98 in 100Dushanbe, Tajikistan -- attacks & violence: 79 stories, carried by 105 outlets; harsh wording in 99 in 100Dhaka, Bangladesh -- accidents & disasters: 135 stories, carried by 158 outlets; harsh wording in 98 in 100Missouri, US -- accidents & disasters: 69 stories, carried by 196 outlets; harsh wording in 97 in 100Mount Everest, Nepal -- accidents & disasters: 203 stories, carried by 227 outlets; harsh wording in 98 in 100Ha Tinh, Vietnam -- protests & strikes: 95 stories, carried by 125 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Paris, France -- attacks & violence: 173 stories, carried by 175 outlets; harsh wording in 97 in 100Ankara, Türkiye -- attacks & violence: 244 stories, carried by 224 outlets; harsh wording in 64 in 100Ahmad Wal, Pakistan -- attacks & violence: 170 stories, carried by 145 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Los Angeles, US -- accidents & disasters: 336 stories, carried by 468 outlets; harsh wording in 61 in 100Bangkok, Thailand -- protests & strikes: 216 stories, carried by 182 outlets; harsh wording in 99 in 100Fallujah, Iraq -- attacks & violence: 187 stories, carried by 212 outlets; harsh wording in 92 in 100Santiago, Chile -- deaths, cause not given: 166 stories, carried by 219 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Jakarta, Indonesia -- accidents & disasters: 257 stories, carried by 210 outlets; harsh wording in 97 in 100Raqqa, Syria -- attacks & violence: 183 stories, carried by 220 outlets; harsh wording in 99 in 100Colombo, Sri Lanka -- accidents & disasters: 283 stories, carried by 266 outlets; harsh wording in 95 in 100Baghdad, Iraq -- protests & strikes: 342 stories, carried by 341 outlets; harsh wording in 95 in 100Acapulco, Mexico -- attacks & violence: 145 stories, carried by 270 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100North Sumatra, Indonesia -- accidents & disasters: 200 stories, carried by 283 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Hanoi, Vietnam -- protests & strikes: 436 stories, carried by 582 outlets; harsh wording in 95 in 100Nenzing, Austria -- attacks & violence: 371 stories, carried by 628 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Egyptair, Egypt -- attacks & violence: 1,505 stories, carried by 1,042 outlets; harsh wording in 99 in 100Kabul, Afghanistan -- attacks & violence: 1,273 stories, carried by 935 outlets; harsh wording in 99 in 100
Attacks & violenceAccidents & disastersPeople displacedDeaths, cause not givenProtests & strikesDisease & outbreaks

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.

The day in three measures

How it felt 30 days →

harshwarm

The words in the day's stories were much harsher than usual. Filled dot: today. Ring: usual.

● Angera little more than usual
● Warmthabout as usual
● Griefa little more than usual
● Fearabout as 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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How to read these numbers →

These are counts of stories, not counts of suffering. Most of what happens to people is never reported at all.