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What the world's news said happened to people.
Counts of coverage, not of suffering
34,477 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 Ramallah (Palestine), landslides in Sri Lanka and violence in Cairo. Egypt's coverage was about three times as angry as the world's. Everywhere we counted, the words were much harsher than usual.

Part of lifeConflict & violence 36 in 100 of the stories about harm · much more than usual Country that rose mostSri Lanka 88 in 100 of its 1,104 stories, usually 35
RegionSoutheast Asia 49 in 100 of its stories, usually 29
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

Palestine

568 of its 954 stories (60%) were about people being harmed, usually 47%. Ramallah accounted for 491 of Palestine's 568 stories about harm, carried by 49 outlets. 336 of Ramallah's 491 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of people injured ran at about twice the usual rate (155 stories). Power cuts were named in 17 of its stories about harm, about 4 times usual. Its coverage was about one and a half times as fearful as the world's.

Disasters & accidents

Sri Lanka

976 of its 1,104 stories (88%) were about people being harmed, usually 35%. Colombo accounted for 580 of Sri Lanka's 976 stories about harm, carried by 527 outlets. Reports of people displaced ran at more than ten times the usual rate (207 stories). Landslides were named in 418 of its stories about harm, about three times usual, with drought and storms.

Conflict & violence

Egypt

1,357 of its 1,518 stories (89%) were about people being harmed, usually 45%. Cairo accounted for 699 of Egypt's 1,357 stories about harm, carried by 605 outlets. Reports of people injured ran at about 5 times the usual rate (884 stories). Its coverage was about three times as angry as the world's. Fear in its coverage rose to about twice its own usual.

Rights & justice

Malaysia

170 of its 541 stories (31%) were about people being harmed, usually 19%. Reports of people injured ran at about three times the usual rate (25 stories). Drownings were named in 10 of its stories about harm, about 7 times usual.

6 more places the news pointed at
Protests & strikes

France

866 of its 2,354 stories (37%) were about people being harmed, usually 24%. 392 of Paris' 781 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of people killed ran at about 4 times the usual rate (648 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as warm as the world's.

Protests & strikes

Yemen

156 of its 176 stories (89%) were about people being harmed, usually 75%. Sanaa accounted for 140 of Yemen's 156 stories about harm, carried by 183 outlets. 131 of Sanaa's 140 stories were about protests or strikes. Its coverage was about one and a half times as fearful as the world's. Warmth in its coverage rose to about one and a half times its own usual.

Protests & strikes

Brazil

106 of its 335 stories (32%) were about people being harmed, usually 22%. 11 of Brasilia's 12 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of people killed ran at about 4 times the usual rate (77 stories). Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's.

Conflict & violence

UK

2,866 of its 9,339 stories (31%) were about people being harmed, usually 24%. Reports of evacuations ran at about 4 times the usual rate (45 stories). Tornadoes were named in 88 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual. Its coverage was about twice as fearful as the world's.

Conflict & violence

Vietnam

268 of its 534 stories (50%) were about people being harmed, usually 19%. Reports of people affected ran at more than ten times the usual rate (191 stories). Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's.

Conflict & violence

Philippines

982 of its 1,528 stories (64%) were about people being harmed, usually 36%. Reports of evacuations ran at more than ten times the usual rate (47 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as fearful as the world's.

Also named far more than usual: landslides in Brunei (19 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); hunger in Iraq (89 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); earthquake in Liberia (13 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); measles in Germany (14 of its stories, about 9 times its usual); norovirus in Mexico (20 of its stories, more than ten times its usual).

25 in 100 stories were about harm

usually 21; 22 the day before
26 in 10019 in 10028 Apr5 May12 May19 May27 May28 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 10014 May: 20 in 10015 May: 20 in 10016 May: 20 in 10017 May: 20 in 10018 May: 20 in 10019 May: 21 in 10020 May: 22 in 10021 May: 22 in 10022 May: 20 in 10023 May: 26 in 10024 May: 23 in 10025 May: 22 in 10026 May: 22 in 10027 May: 25 in 100 · this day

Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 27 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 34,477 stories about harm among 136,208 counted on 27 May.

Read the day's briefing

25 in every 100 of the day's 136,208 news stories were about people being harmed, above the usual 21. On 27 May 2016, a year earlier, the share was 21 in every 100, against 25 today. Palestine stood out: 60% of its news was about people being harmed, usually 47%.

Written by code from the day's numbers.

Where it happened

feelings in full →
Feelings Events Harm Warmth
Sirte, Libya -- attacks & violence: 79 stories, carried by 80 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Beruwala, Sri Lanka -- accidents & disasters: 57 stories, carried by 91 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Riyadh, Saudi Arabia -- attacks & violence: 139 stories, carried by 113 outlets; harsh wording in 98 in 100Beijing, China -- protests & strikes: 163 stories, carried by 133 outlets; harsh wording in 92 in 100Sigonella, Italy -- attacks & violence: 97 stories, carried by 108 outlets; harsh wording in 85 in 100Kabul, Afghanistan -- attacks & violence: 100 stories, carried by 113 outlets; harsh wording in 98 in 100Damascus, Syria -- attacks & violence: 261 stories, carried by 196 outlets; harsh wording in 51 in 100London, UK -- attacks & violence: 438 stories, carried by 386 outlets; harsh wording in 86 in 100Bogota, Colombia -- attacks & violence: 106 stories, carried by 113 outlets; harsh wording in 99 in 100Jerusalem, Israel -- protests & strikes: 407 stories, carried by 247 outlets; harsh wording in 98 in 100Seoul, South Korea -- accidents & disasters: 156 stories, carried by 138 outlets; harsh wording in 99 in 100Sanaa, Yemen -- protests & strikes: 140 stories, carried by 183 outlets; harsh wording in 96 in 100Tripoli, Libya -- attacks & violence: 190 stories, carried by 218 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Paris, France -- protests & strikes: 781 stories, carried by 490 outlets; harsh wording in 71 in 100Lake Weatherford, US -- deaths, cause not given: 178 stories, carried by 227 outlets; harsh wording in 96 in 100Khost, Afghanistan -- attacks & violence: 234 stories, carried by 239 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Rampur, India -- attacks & violence: 310 stories, carried by 240 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Van Truong, Vietnam -- attacks & violence: 189 stories, carried by 260 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Washington, US -- attacks & violence: 1,104 stories, carried by 837 outlets; harsh wording in 83 in 100Marawi, Philippines -- attacks & violence: 552 stories, carried by 357 outlets; harsh wording in 99 in 100Colombo, Sri Lanka -- accidents & disasters: 580 stories, carried by 527 outlets; harsh wording in 93 in 100Minya, Egypt -- attacks & violence: 532 stories, carried by 452 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Cairo, Egypt -- attacks & violence: 699 stories, carried by 605 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Manchester, UK -- attacks & violence: 1,720 stories, carried by 987 outlets; harsh wording in 90 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.

● Angerabout one and a half times usual
● Warmthabout as usual
● Griefabout one and a half times usual
● Fearabout one and a half times 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.