← 19 Aug Saturday 20 August 2016 · to 23:59 UTC 21 Aug →
What the world's news said happened to people.
Counts of coverage, not of suffering
33,304 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 →

The news turned to violence in Putumayo, protests in Islamabad (Pakistan) and people displaced in Juba. Pakistan's coverage was about twice as fearful as the world's. Everywhere we counted, the words were much softer than usual.

Reports of people falling ill ran at about twice the usual rate, most often about Haiti and the US → Help and hope: reports of peace efforts ran at about twice the usual rate →
Part of lifeRights & justice 26 in 100 of the stories about harm · less than usual Country that rose mostColombia 75 in 100 of its 310 stories, usually 29
RegionEast Asia 20 in 100 of its stories, usually 15
Tone of the words Much softer than usual across the world's stories about harm

What the world's news was about today

how these are picked →
Conflict & violence

Colombia

234 of its 310 stories (75%) were about people being harmed, usually 29%. Putumayo accounted for 149 of Colombia's 234 stories about harm, carried by 137 outlets. Reports of people displaced ran at more than ten times the usual rate (135 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as warm as the world's. Anger in its coverage rose to about twice its own usual.

Protests & strikes

Pakistan

1,371 of its 2,215 stories (62%) were about people being harmed, usually 53%. 676 of Islamabad's 864 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of arrests ran at about three times the usual rate (663 stories). Its coverage was about twice as fearful as the world's.

Displacement

South Sudan

144 of its 177 stories (81%) were about people being harmed, usually 70%. Juba accounted for 130 of South Sudan's 144 stories about harm, carried by 140 outlets. Reports of people displaced ran at about 4 times the usual rate (109 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as warm as the world's. Fear in its coverage rose to about one and a half times its own usual.

6 more places the news pointed at
Protests & strikes

Uganda

17 of Kivu's 26 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of people killed ran at about twice the usual rate (34 stories). Plague was named in 17 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual. Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's.

Conflict & violence

Saudi Arabia

179 of its 374 stories (48%) were about people being harmed, usually 34%. Reports of evacuations ran at more than ten times the usual rate (29 stories). Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's.

Conflict & violence

Norway

62 of its 157 stories (39%) were about people being harmed, usually 24%. Reports of arrests ran at about 9 times the usual rate (39 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as warm as the world's.

Conflict & violence

Sudan

51 of its 73 stories (70%) were about people being harmed, usually 60%. Reports of arrests ran at about three times the usual rate (11 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as fearful as the world's.

Conflict & violence

Philippines

660 of its 1,848 stories (36%) were about people being harmed, usually 30%. Drownings were named in 31 of its stories about harm, about 5 times usual. Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's. Warmth in its coverage rose to about one and a half times its own usual.

Conflict & violence

Yemen

Sanaa accounted for 143 of Yemen's 199 stories about harm, carried by 132 outlets. Reports of evacuations ran at about twice the usual rate (15 stories). Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's. Warmth in its coverage rose to about one and a half times its own usual.

Also named far more than usual: tsunami in Japan (148 of its stories, about 7 times its usual); heavy rain in India (489 of its stories, about three times its usual); plague in Uganda (17 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); landslides in Vietnam (10 of its stories, about 4 times its usual); cholera in Ethiopia (10 of its stories, more than ten times its usual).

22 in 100 stories were about harm

usually 22; 20 the day before
25 in 10020 in 10022 Jul29 Jul5 Aug12 Aug20 Aug22 Jul: 21 in 10023 Jul: 24 in 10024 Jul: 24 in 10025 Jul: 22 in 10026 Jul: 21 in 10027 Jul: 20 in 10028 Jul: 20 in 10029 Jul: 21 in 10030 Jul: 25 in 10031 Jul: 24 in 1001 Aug: 22 in 1002 Aug: 21 in 1003 Aug: 21 in 1004 Aug: 21 in 1005 Aug: 21 in 1006 Aug: 22 in 1007 Aug: 22 in 1008 Aug: 20 in 1009 Aug: 20 in 10010 Aug: 20 in 10011 Aug: 20 in 10012 Aug: 20 in 10013 Aug: 22 in 10014 Aug: 24 in 10015 Aug: 23 in 10016 Aug: 22 in 10017 Aug: 22 in 10018 Aug: 21 in 10019 Aug: 20 in 10020 Aug: 22 in 100 · this day

Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 20 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 33,304 stories about harm among 152,889 counted on 20 Aug.

Read the day's briefing

Reports of peace efforts, a sign of help, ran at about twice the usual rate. 22 in every 100 of the day's 152,889 news stories were about people being harmed, as usual. In Colombia, 75% of the news was about people being harmed, where 29% is usual. People falling ill were reported at about twice the usual rate, most often about Haiti and the US. Mentions of the tsunami ran about 7 times their usual in Japan's news.

Written by code from the day's numbers.

Where it happened

feelings in full →
Feelings Events Harm Warmth
Paris, France -- attacks & violence: 87 stories, carried by 68 outlets; harsh wording in 93 in 100Hasakeh, Syria -- attacks & violence: 59 stories, carried by 50 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Sirte, Libya -- attacks & violence: 66 stories, carried by 56 outlets; harsh wording in 98 in 100Riyadh, Saudi Arabia -- attacks & violence: 95 stories, carried by 82 outlets; harsh wording in 99 in 100Juba, South Sudan -- people displaced: 130 stories, carried by 140 outlets; harsh wording in 98 in 100Istanbul, Türkiye -- attacks & violence: 281 stories, carried by 205 outlets; harsh wording in 98 in 100Tehran, Iran -- attacks & violence: 149 stories, carried by 160 outlets; harsh wording in 93 in 100Beijing, China -- attacks & violence: 311 stories, carried by 229 outlets; harsh wording in 57 in 100Putumayo, Colombia -- attacks & violence: 149 stories, carried by 137 outlets; harsh wording in 60 in 100Dadaab, Kenya -- protests & strikes: 99 stories, carried by 108 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Shoreham, UK -- deaths, cause not given: 29 stories, carried by 141 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Tokyo, Japan -- accidents & disasters: 112 stories, carried by 136 outlets; harsh wording in 93 in 100Muzaffarabad, Pakistan -- protests & strikes: 97 stories, carried by 116 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Carloway, UK -- accidents & disasters: 10 stories, carried by 115 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Sanaa, Yemen -- attacks & violence: 143 stories, carried by 132 outlets; harsh wording in 95 in 100Tarin Kowt, Afghanistan -- attacks & violence: 12 stories, carried by 128 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Moscow, Russia -- attacks & violence: 193 stories, carried by 213 outlets; harsh wording in 85 in 100Islamabad, Pakistan -- protests & strikes: 864 stories, carried by 193 outlets; harsh wording in 99 in 100Gaziantep, Türkiye -- attacks & violence: 181 stories, carried by 156 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Manila, Philippines -- attacks & violence: 310 stories, carried by 271 outlets; harsh wording in 97 in 100Santa Barbara County, US -- accidents & disasters: 254 stories, carried by 312 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Kunduz, Afghanistan -- attacks & violence: 268 stories, carried by 335 outlets; harsh wording in 99 in 100Aleppo, Syria -- attacks & violence: 531 stories, carried by 412 outlets; harsh wording in 99 in 100Baton Rouge, US -- accidents & disasters: 852 stories, carried by 905 outlets; harsh wording in 94 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 softer than usual. Filled dot: today. Ring: usual.

● Angerabout as usual
● Warmthabout as usual
● Griefabout as 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?

The weekly briefing · 19 Oct – 25 Oct

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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.