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What the world's news said happened to people.
Counts of coverage, not of suffering
58,437 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 protests in Taipei (Taiwan), a disaster in Mogadishu and violence in Ouagadougou. el Salvador's coverage was about 5 times as grief-stricken as the world's. Taken together, the world's news read harsher than usual.

Part of lifeRights & justice 32 in 100 of the stories about harm · about as usual Country that rose mostBurkina Faso 92 in 100 of its 154 stories, usually 20
RegionLatin America & Caribbean 28 in 100 of its stories, usually 24
Tone of the words Harsher than usual across the world's stories about harm

What the world's news was about today

how these are picked →
Protests & strikes

Taiwan

242 of its 441 stories (55%) were about people being harmed, usually 27%. Taipei accounted for 221 of Taiwan's 242 stories about harm, carried by 154 outlets. 191 of Taipei's 221 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of arrests ran at about three times the usual rate (12 stories). Anger in its coverage rose to about one and a half times its own usual.

Disasters & accidents

Somalia

315 of its 376 stories (84%) were about people being harmed, usually 69%. Mogadishu accounted for 210 of Somalia's 315 stories about harm, carried by 194 outlets. Reports of people displaced ran at about twice the usual rate (9 stories). Cholera was named in 136 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual, with measles. Its coverage was about twice as fearful as the world's.

Conflict & violence

Burkina Faso

141 of its 154 stories (92%) were about people being harmed, usually 20%. Ouagadougou accounted for 127 of Burkina Faso's 141 stories about harm, carried by 124 outlets. Reports of people killed ran at about 5 times the usual rate (137 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.

Health

El Salvador

138 of its 215 stories (64%) were about people being harmed, usually 34%. Reports of people killed ran at about 5 times the usual rate (110 stories). Its coverage was about 5 times as grief-stricken as the world's. Anger in its coverage rose to about twice its own usual.

6 more places the news pointed at
Conflict & violence

Mali

132 of its 173 stories (76%) were about people being harmed, usually 50%. Kidal accounted for 102 of Mali's 132 stories about harm, carried by 96 outlets. Reports of people injured ran at more than ten times the usual rate (99 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.

Conflict & violence

Tunisia

247 of its 291 stories (85%) were about people being harmed, usually 59%. Reports of people killed ran at about three times the usual rate (235 stories). Its coverage was about 4 times as grief-stricken as the world's.

Conflict & violence

Algeria

83 of its 123 stories (67%) were about people being harmed, usually 40%. Reports of people injured ran at about 7 times the usual rate (47 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.

Rights & justice

North Korea

466 of its 854 stories (55%) were about people being harmed, usually 34%. Pyongyang accounted for 374 of North Korea's 466 stories about harm, carried by 303 outlets. Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's.

Rights & justice

Gambia

117 of its 205 stories (57%) were about people being harmed, usually 33%. Banjul accounted for 106 of the Gambia's 117 stories about harm, carried by 74 outlets. Reports of people affected ran at about 8 times the usual rate (33 stories).

Disasters & accidents

Ecuador

22 of its 50 stories (44%) were about people being harmed, usually 18%. Reports of refugees ran at more than ten times the usual rate (12 stories). Natural hazards were named in 15 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual.

Also named far more than usual: bird flu in Latvia (15 of its stories, about 10 times its usual); natural hazards in Ecuador (15 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); volcanic eruption in Italy (60 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); power cuts in Ghana (40 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); heatwave in Rwanda (12 of its stories, more than ten times its usual).

22 in 100 stories were about harm

usually 22; 21 the day before
24 in 10020 in 10030 Jan6 Feb13 Feb20 Feb28 Feb30 Jan: 24 in 10031 Jan: 21 in 1001 Feb: 20 in 1002 Feb: 22 in 1003 Feb: 22 in 1004 Feb: 23 in 1005 Feb: 23 in 1006 Feb: 20 in 1007 Feb: 21 in 1008 Feb: 22 in 1009 Feb: 22 in 10010 Feb: 21 in 10011 Feb: 23 in 10012 Feb: 22 in 10013 Feb: 22 in 10014 Feb: 21 in 10015 Feb: 20 in 10016 Feb: 21 in 10017 Feb: 21 in 10018 Feb: 23 in 10019 Feb: 23 in 10020 Feb: 21 in 10021 Feb: 22 in 10022 Feb: 22 in 10023 Feb: 22 in 10024 Feb: 21 in 10025 Feb: 22 in 10026 Feb: 24 in 10027 Feb: 21 in 10028 Feb: 22 in 100 · this day

Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 28 Feb. 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 58,437 stories about harm among 271,607 counted on 28 Feb.

Read the day's briefing

Taiwan stood out: 55% of its news was about people being harmed, usually 27%. 22 in every 100 of the day's 271,607 news stories were about people being harmed, as usual. A year earlier, on 29 February 2016, 19 in every 100 stories were about people being harmed, against 22 today.

Written by code from the day's numbers.

Where it happened

feelings in full →
Feelings Events Harm Warmth
Tokyo, Japan -- accidents & disasters: 182 stories, carried by 177 outlets; harsh wording in 80 in 100Delhi, India -- protests & strikes: 854 stories, carried by 165 outlets; harsh wording in 94 in 100Kidal, Mali -- attacks & violence: 102 stories, carried by 96 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Rio de Janeiro, Brazil -- deaths, cause not given: 236 stories, carried by 283 outlets; harsh wording in 83 in 100Gaza, Palestine -- attacks & violence: 312 stories, carried by 133 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Islamabad, Pakistan -- attacks & violence: 323 stories, carried by 185 outlets; harsh wording in 90 in 100Dhaka, Bangladesh -- attacks & violence: 293 stories, carried by 201 outlets; harsh wording in 94 in 100Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso -- attacks & violence: 127 stories, carried by 124 outlets; harsh wording in 99 in 100Ein el-Hilweh, Lebanon -- attacks & violence: 161 stories, carried by 152 outlets; harsh wording in 96 in 100Santiago, Chile -- accidents & disasters: 98 stories, carried by 151 outlets; harsh wording in 96 in 100Vancouver, Canada -- protests & strikes: 349 stories, carried by 249 outlets; harsh wording in 82 in 100Taipei, Taiwan -- protests & strikes: 221 stories, carried by 154 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Berlin, Germany -- attacks & violence: 365 stories, carried by 251 outlets; harsh wording in 95 in 100Lashkar Gah, Afghanistan -- attacks & violence: 181 stories, carried by 182 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Jerusalem, Israel -- attacks & violence: 319 stories, carried by 269 outlets; harsh wording in 93 in 100Canberra, Australia -- attacks & violence: 233 stories, carried by 238 outlets; harsh wording in 96 in 100Moscow, Russia -- attacks & violence: 350 stories, carried by 344 outlets; harsh wording in 94 in 100Mogadishu, Somalia -- accidents & disasters: 210 stories, carried by 194 outlets; harsh wording in 99 in 100Damascus, Syria -- attacks & violence: 240 stories, carried by 202 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Tunis, Tunisia -- attacks & violence: 113 stories, carried by 206 outlets; harsh wording in 98 in 100Sousse, Tunisia -- attacks & violence: 116 stories, carried by 227 outlets; harsh wording in 99 in 100Villognon, France -- deaths, cause not given: 247 stories, carried by 331 outlets; harsh wording in 99 in 100Gulf Shores, US -- deaths, cause not given: 370 stories, carried by 481 outlets; harsh wording in 99 in 100Riverside, US -- accidents & disasters: 1,035 stories, carried by 989 outlets; harsh wording in 98 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 harsher 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.