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What the world's news said happened to people.
Counts of coverage, not of suffering
30,989 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 →

Most of the day's attention went to flooding in Sri Lanka, violence in Yerevan and protests in al-Hoceima (Morocco). Armenia's coverage was about three times as grief-stricken as the world's. Across the world, the tone of the words was harsher than usual.

Help and hope: reports of people freed or reunited ran at about twice the usual rate →
Part of lifeConflict & violence 33 in 100 of the stories about harm · much more than usual Country that rose mostSri Lanka 89 in 100 of its 817 stories, usually 41
RegionSoutheast Asia 52 in 100 of its stories, usually 30
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 →
Disasters & accidents

Sri Lanka

728 of its 817 stories (89%) were about people being harmed, usually 41%. Colombo accounted for 283 of Sri Lanka's 728 stories about harm, carried by 194 outlets. Reports of people displaced ran at about 9 times the usual rate (218 stories). Flooding was named in 464 of its stories about harm, about three times usual, with landslides, drought and outbreaks.

Conflict & violence

Armenia

114 of its 184 stories (62%) were about people being harmed, usually 24%. Yerevan accounted for 95 of Armenia's 114 stories about harm, carried by 88 outlets. Reports of people killed ran at about 5 times the usual rate (89 stories). Its coverage was about three times as grief-stricken as the world's. Warmth in its coverage rose to about one and a half times its own usual.

Protests & strikes

Morocco

28 of its 53 stories (53%) were about people being harmed, usually 16%. 20 of al-Hoceima's 20 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of people injured ran at more than ten times the usual rate (18 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as angry as the world's.

Displacement

Romania

82 of its 102 stories (80%) were about people being harmed, usually 15%. Sibiu accounted for 76 of Romania's 82 stories about harm, carried by 77 outlets. Reports of evacuations ran at more than ten times the usual rate (76 stories).

6 more places the news pointed at
Conflict & violence

Iraq

418 of its 530 stories (79%) were about people being harmed, usually 63%. Baghdad accounted for 233 of Iraq's 418 stories about harm, carried by 178 outlets. Reports of abductions ran at about three times the usual rate (26 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as angry as the world's.

Conflict & violence

UK

3,008 of its 8,555 stories (35%) were about people being harmed, usually 24%. Reports of people displaced ran at about 7 times the usual rate (10 stories). Heatwave was named in 18 of its stories about harm, about 7 times usual. Its coverage was about one and a half times as fearful as the world's.

Protests & strikes

Venezuela

180 of its 229 stories (79%) were about people being harmed, usually 65%. Caracas accounted for 148 of Venezuela's 180 stories about harm, carried by 126 outlets. 102 of Caracas' 148 stories were about protests or strikes. Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's.

Conflict & violence

Philippines

1,500 of its 2,225 stories (67%) were about people being harmed, usually 37%. Reports of evacuations ran at more than ten times the usual rate (110 stories). Hunger was named in 13 of its stories about harm, about 4 times usual.

Deaths & injuries, cause not given

Jersey

65 of its 129 stories (50%) were about people being harmed, usually 14%. Reports of people killed ran at more than ten times the usual rate (63 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as grief-stricken as the world's.

Conflict & violence

Egypt

528 of its 726 stories (73%) were about people being harmed, usually 48%. Reports of people affected ran at about twice the usual rate (21 stories). Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's.

Also named far more than usual: earthquake in Italy (100 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); storms in Madagascar (10 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); outbreaks in India (241 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); storms in Spain (12 of its stories, about 8 times its usual); earthquake in Saudi Arabia (27 of its stories, about 9 times its usual).

26 in 100 stories were about harm

usually 21; 25 the day before
26 in 10019 in 10029 Apr6 May13 May20 May28 May29 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 10028 May: 26 in 100 · this day

Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 28 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 30,989 stories about harm among 118,885 counted on 28 May.

Read the day's briefing

Of the day's 118,885 news stories, 26 in every 100 were about people being harmed, above the usual 21. Reports of people freed or reunited, a sign of help, ran at about twice the usual rate. It was the third day running that the news turned to Sri Lanka. In Sri Lanka, 89% of the news was about people being harmed, where 41% is usual. This week the news turned most often to Sri Lanka, on 4 of 7 days; help rose on 1 of them.

Written by code from the day's numbers.

Where it happened

feelings in full →
Feelings Events Harm Warmth
Khost, Afghanistan -- attacks & violence: 47 stories, carried by 35 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Damascus, Syria -- attacks & violence: 59 stories, carried by 44 outlets; harsh wording in 88 in 100Tigris River, Iraq -- attacks & violence: 34 stories, carried by 37 outlets; harsh wording in 97 in 100Tripoli, Libya -- attacks & violence: 52 stories, carried by 49 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Canberra, Australia -- deaths, cause not given: 30 stories, carried by 129 outlets; harsh wording in 90 in 100Raqqa, Syria -- protests & strikes: 86 stories, carried by 89 outlets; harsh wording in 95 in 100Sibiu, Romania -- people displaced: 76 stories, carried by 77 outlets; harsh wording in 92 in 100Amatrice, Italy -- accidents & disasters: 98 stories, carried by 120 outlets; harsh wording in 69 in 100Weybourne, UK -- accidents & disasters: 17 stories, carried by 117 outlets; harsh wording in 88 in 100Caracas, Venezuela -- protests & strikes: 148 stories, carried by 126 outlets; harsh wording in 99 in 100South China Sea, Brunei -- attacks & violence: 82 stories, carried by 87 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Beruwala, Sri Lanka -- accidents & disasters: 43 stories, carried by 158 outlets; harsh wording in 93 in 100Manila, Philippines -- attacks & violence: 389 stories, carried by 197 outlets; harsh wording in 88 in 100Cairo, Egypt -- attacks & violence: 164 stories, carried by 147 outlets; harsh wording in 98 in 100Riyadh, Saudi Arabia -- attacks & violence: 137 stories, carried by 184 outlets; harsh wording in 95 in 100Baghdad, Iraq -- attacks & violence: 233 stories, carried by 178 outlets; harsh wording in 99 in 100Colombo, Sri Lanka -- accidents & disasters: 283 stories, carried by 194 outlets; harsh wording in 94 in 100Jeddah, Saudi Arabia -- attacks & violence: 168 stories, carried by 190 outlets; harsh wording in 98 in 100Ahmadabad, India -- disease & outbreaks: 282 stories, carried by 196 outlets; harsh wording in 99 in 100Minya, Egypt -- attacks & violence: 212 stories, carried by 208 outlets; harsh wording in 99 in 100Marawi, Philippines -- attacks & violence: 554 stories, carried by 289 outlets; harsh wording in 95 in 100Washington, US -- attacks & violence: 1,214 stories, carried by 832 outlets; harsh wording in 85 in 100Portland, US -- protests & strikes: 1,020 stories, carried by 710 outlets; harsh wording in 98 in 100Manchester, UK -- attacks & violence: 2,016 stories, carried by 1,028 outlets; harsh wording in 93 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.

● Angera little more than usual
● Warmthabout as usual
● Griefabout one and a half times usual
● Feara little more than 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.