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What the world's news said happened to people.
Counts of coverage, not of suffering
28,772 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 Tehran (Iran), deaths in Anadolu and evacuations in Pakistan drew the news. Pakistan's coverage was about one and a half times as angry as the world's. Everywhere we counted, the words were harsher than usual.

Help and hope: reports of people freed or reunited ran at about twice the usual rate →
Part of lifeRights & justice 27 in 100 of the stories about harm · less than usual Country that rose mostRomania 66 in 100 of its 151 stories, usually 10
RegionSub-Saharan Africa 36 in 100 of its stories, usually 31
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

Iran

366 of its 677 stories (54%) were about people being harmed, usually 36%. Tehran accounted for 321 of Iran's 366 stories about harm, carried by 261 outlets. 232 of Tehran's 321 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of people killed ran at about twice the usual rate (309 stories). Earthquake was named in 65 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual, with power cuts. Its coverage was about one and a half times as warm as the world's.

Deaths & injuries, cause not given

Türkiye

710 of its 915 stories (78%) were about people being harmed, usually 44%. Anadolu accounted for 432 of Türkiye's 710 stories about harm, carried by 240 outlets. Reports of people affected ran at about 5 times the usual rate (312 stories). Grief in its coverage rose to about twice its own usual.

Conflict & violence

Pakistan

1,044 of its 1,851 stories (56%) were about people being harmed, usually 42%. Reports of evacuations ran at more than ten times the usual rate (57 stories). Heatstroke was named in 14 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual. Its coverage was about one and a half times as angry as the world's.

Health

UK

2,003 of its 7,754 stories (26%) were about people being harmed, usually 17%. Reports of people affected ran at about 5 times the usual rate (912 stories). Wildfires were named in 108 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual, with food poisoning, plane crash and snowstorms. Its coverage was about one and a half times as warm as the world's. Anger in its coverage rose to about one and a half times its own usual.

6 more places the news pointed at
Protests & strikes

Syria

485 of its 617 stories (79%) were about people being harmed, usually 73%. Raqqa accounted for 311 of Syria's 485 stories about harm, carried by 245 outlets. 236 of Raqqa's 311 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of evacuations ran at about twice the usual rate (125 stories). Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's.

Protests & strikes

Ethiopia

95 of its 140 stories (68%) were about people being harmed, usually 36%. Addis Ababa accounted for 83 of Ethiopia's 95 stories about harm, carried by 81 outlets. 81 of Addis Ababa's 83 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of people killed ran at about three times the usual rate (93 stories).

Deaths & injuries, cause not given

Brazil

123 of its 328 stories (38%) were about people being harmed, usually 20%. Reports of people killed ran at about 4 times the usual rate (96 stories). Chikungunya was named in 23 of its stories about harm, about 8 times usual, with dengue. Its coverage was about one and a half times as warm as the world's.

Conflict & violence

Romania

99 of its 151 stories (66%) were about people being harmed, usually 10%. Reports of people injured ran at more than ten times the usual rate (36 stories). Its coverage was about 4 times as grief-stricken as the world's.

Protests & strikes

Bahrain

80 of its 132 stories (61%) were about people being harmed, usually 11%. 4 of Manama's 6 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of arrests ran at more than ten times the usual rate (65 stories).

Conflict & violence

Namibia

63 of its 80 stories (79%) were about people being harmed, usually 21%. Windhoek accounted for 61 of Namibia's 63 stories about harm, carried by 74 outlets. Its coverage was about one and a half times as fearful as the world's.

Also named far more than usual: flu in Portugal (449 of its stories, about 6 times its usual); train derailment in Greece (93 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); storms in Nepal (30 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); chikungunya in Brazil (23 of its stories, about 8 times its usual); malaria in Venezuela (28 of its stories, about 8 times its usual).

22 in 100 stories were about harm

usually 21; 20 the day before
25 in 10019 in 10014 Apr21 Apr28 Apr5 May13 May14 Apr: 23 in 10015 Apr: 25 in 10016 Apr: 25 in 10017 Apr: 23 in 10018 Apr: 20 in 10019 Apr: 21 in 10020 Apr: 21 in 10021 Apr: 22 in 10022 Apr: 23 in 10023 Apr: 22 in 10024 Apr: 22 in 10025 Apr: 21 in 10026 Apr: 20 in 10027 Apr: 20 in 10028 Apr: 20 in 10029 Apr: 20 in 10030 Apr: 21 in 1001 May: 22 in 1002 May: 21 in 1003 May: 21 in 1004 May: 21 in 1005 May: 21 in 1006 May: 23 in 1007 May: 24 in 1008 May: 20 in 1009 May: 20 in 10010 May: 20 in 10011 May: 19 in 10012 May: 20 in 10013 May: 22 in 100 · this day

Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 13 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 28,772 stories about harm among 131,410 counted on 13 May.

Read the day's briefing

On the side of help, reports of people freed or reunited ran at about twice the usual rate. Stories about people being harmed made up 22 in every 100 of the day's 131,410 stories, as usual. Mentions of the flu ran about 6 times their usual in Portugal's news. On 13 May 2016, a year earlier, the share was 19 in every 100, against 22 today. Iran stood out: 54% of its news was about people being harmed, usually 36%.

Written by code from the day's numbers.

Where it happened

feelings in full →
Feelings Events Harm Warmth
Mostar, Bosnia -- deaths, cause not given: 47 stories, carried by 43 outlets; harsh wording in 98 in 100Adendro, Greece -- accidents & disasters: 41 stories, carried by 40 outlets; harsh wording in 98 in 100Cairo, Egypt -- attacks & violence: 75 stories, carried by 60 outlets; harsh wording in 87 in 100Athens, Greece -- accidents & disasters: 70 stories, carried by 63 outlets; harsh wording in 96 in 100Marmaris, Türkiye -- deaths, cause not given: 84 stories, carried by 66 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Jerusalem, Israel -- attacks & violence: 264 stories, carried by 135 outlets; harsh wording in 97 in 100Warsaw, Poland -- attacks & violence: 54 stories, carried by 69 outlets; harsh wording in 96 in 100Riyadh, Saudi Arabia -- attacks & violence: 92 stories, carried by 76 outlets; harsh wording in 87 in 100Tripoli, Libya -- attacks & violence: 62 stories, carried by 66 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Scapa Flow, UK -- accidents & disasters: 30 stories, carried by 99 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Windhoek, Namibia -- attacks & violence: 61 stories, carried by 74 outlets; harsh wording in 95 in 100Izmir, Türkiye -- deaths, cause not given: 91 stories, carried by 95 outlets; harsh wording in 99 in 100Addis Ababa, Ethiopia -- protests & strikes: 83 stories, carried by 81 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Bangassou, Central African Republic -- attacks & violence: 64 stories, carried by 88 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Bouake, Côte d’Ivoire -- protests & strikes: 90 stories, carried by 102 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Islamabad, Pakistan -- attacks & violence: 271 stories, carried by 170 outlets; harsh wording in 97 in 100Aleppo, Syria -- attacks & violence: 53 stories, carried by 114 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Kabul, Afghanistan -- attacks & violence: 118 stories, carried by 114 outlets; harsh wording in 98 in 100Quetta, Pakistan -- attacks & violence: 123 stories, carried by 110 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Pyongyang, North Korea -- attacks & violence: 207 stories, carried by 185 outlets; harsh wording in 98 in 100Raqqa, Syria -- protests & strikes: 311 stories, carried by 245 outlets; harsh wording in 99 in 100Tehran, Iran -- protests & strikes: 321 stories, carried by 261 outlets; harsh wording in 99 in 100Kirkersville, US -- attacks & violence: 375 stories, carried by 361 outlets; harsh wording in 99 in 100Philadelphia, US -- accidents & disasters: 402 stories, carried by 595 outlets; harsh wording in 96 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?

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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.