← 1 Aug Wednesday 2 August 2017 · to 23:59 UTC 3 Aug →
What the world's news said happened to people.
Counts of coverage, not of suffering
46,263 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 day's news pointed at a disaster in Lisbon, protests in Kigali (Rwanda) and violence in South Ossetia. Portugal's coverage was about three times as grief-stricken as the world's. Language across the world's news ran softer than usual.

Part of lifeRights & justice 29 in 100 of the stories about harm · more than usual Country that rose mostPortugal 64 in 100 of its 408 stories, usually 20
RegionCentral Asia 31 in 100 of its stories, usually 16
Tone of the words Softer than usual across the world's stories about harm

What the world's news was about today

how these are picked →
Disasters & accidents

Portugal

261 of its 408 stories (64%) were about people being harmed, usually 20%. Lisbon accounted for 235 of Portugal's 261 stories about harm, carried by 367 outlets. Reports of people killed ran at about 6 times the usual rate (220 stories). Plane crash was named in 19 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual. Its coverage was about three times as grief-stricken as the world's.

Protests & strikes

Rwanda

232 of its 303 stories (77%) were about people being harmed, usually 40%. Kigali accounted for 204 of Rwanda's 232 stories about harm, carried by 187 outlets. 148 of Kigali's 204 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of arrests ran at more than ten times the usual rate (151 stories).

6 more places the news pointed at
Protests & strikes

Afghanistan

1,178 of its 1,360 stories (87%) were about people being harmed, usually 63%. Kabul accounted for 539 of Afghanistan's 1,178 stories about harm, carried by 385 outlets. 322 of Kabul's 539 stories were about protests or strikes. Its coverage was about 4 times as angry as the world's.

Protests & strikes

Thailand

395 of its 768 stories (51%) were about people being harmed, usually 29%. 238 of Bangkok's 272 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of people injured ran at more than ten times the usual rate (226 stories). Tropical storm was named in 51 of its stories about harm, about 7 times usual, with heavy rain and drownings.

Protests & strikes

Papua New Guinea

97 of its 179 stories (54%) were about people being harmed, usually 28%. 3 of Chimbu's 3 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of people killed ran at about 6 times the usual rate (85 stories). 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.

Protests & strikes

Guinea

21 of its 48 stories (44%) were about people being harmed, usually 17%. 19 of Conakry's 19 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of people killed ran at about 5 times the usual rate (15 stories). Anger in its coverage rose to about one and a half times its own usual.

Protests & strikes

Vietnam

157 of its 504 stories (31%) were about people being harmed, usually 22%. 23 of Hanoi's 36 stories were about protests or strikes. Accidents were named in 23 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual. Its coverage was about one and a half times as warm as the world's.

Conflict & violence

Poland

198 of its 462 stories (43%) were about people being harmed, usually 19%. Reports of people killed ran at about 7 times the usual rate (158 stories). Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's.

Also named far more than usual: meningitis in Yemen (51 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); tsunami in Chile (26 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); snowstorms in France (63 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); cholera in Iran (42 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); tropical storm in Thailand (51 of its stories, about 7 times its usual).

21 in 100 stories were about harm

usually 22; 20 the day before
26 in 10020 in 1004 Jul11 Jul18 Jul25 Jul2 Aug4 Jul: 21 in 1005 Jul: 20 in 1006 Jul: 21 in 1007 Jul: 22 in 1008 Jul: 24 in 1009 Jul: 25 in 10010 Jul: 21 in 10011 Jul: 22 in 10012 Jul: 21 in 10013 Jul: 21 in 10014 Jul: 22 in 10015 Jul: 26 in 10016 Jul: 25 in 10017 Jul: 22 in 10018 Jul: 21 in 10019 Jul: 21 in 10020 Jul: 21 in 10021 Jul: 22 in 10022 Jul: 24 in 10023 Jul: 25 in 10024 Jul: 23 in 10025 Jul: 21 in 10026 Jul: 21 in 10027 Jul: 20 in 10028 Jul: 21 in 10029 Jul: 22 in 10030 Jul: 24 in 10031 Jul: 21 in 1001 Aug: 20 in 1002 Aug: 21 in 100 · this day

Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 2 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 46,263 stories about harm among 224,746 counted on 2 Aug.

Read the day's briefing

In Portugal, 64% of the news was about people being harmed, where 20% is usual. A year earlier, on 2 August 2016, 21 in every 100 stories were about people being harmed, the same as today. 21 in every 100 of the day's 224,746 news stories were about people being harmed, below the usual 22.

Written by code from the day's numbers.

Where it happened

feelings in full →
Feelings Events Harm Warmth
Geneva, Switzerland -- accidents & disasters: 60 stories, carried by 61 outlets; harsh wording in 97 in 100Lampedusa, Italy -- protests & strikes: 97 stories, carried by 93 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Paris, France -- accidents & disasters: 154 stories, carried by 193 outlets; harsh wording in 45 in 100Beirut, Lebanon -- attacks & violence: 72 stories, carried by 62 outlets; harsh wording in 99 in 100Bali, Indonesia -- attacks & violence: 23 stories, carried by 117 outlets; harsh wording in 83 in 100Riyadh, Saudi Arabia -- attacks & violence: 86 stories, carried by 92 outlets; harsh wording in 97 in 100Raqqa, Syria -- protests & strikes: 126 stories, carried by 124 outlets; harsh wording in 98 in 100Idlib, Syria -- attacks & violence: 93 stories, carried by 92 outlets; harsh wording in 97 in 100Beijing, China -- attacks & violence: 245 stories, carried by 179 outlets; harsh wording in 94 in 100Sydney, Australia -- attacks & violence: 455 stories, carried by 293 outlets; harsh wording in 91 in 100Montreal, Canada -- people displaced: 98 stories, carried by 126 outlets; harsh wording in 89 in 100Doha, Qatar -- attacks & violence: 129 stories, carried by 106 outlets; harsh wording in 97 in 100Jerusalem, Israel -- attacks & violence: 558 stories, carried by 226 outlets; harsh wording in 96 in 100Mexico City, Mexico -- protests & strikes: 103 stories, carried by 130 outlets; harsh wording in 98 in 100London, UK -- attacks & violence: 574 stories, carried by 557 outlets; harsh wording in 81 in 100Sanaa, Yemen -- disease & outbreaks: 81 stories, carried by 162 outlets; harsh wording in 99 in 100Kigali, Rwanda -- protests & strikes: 204 stories, carried by 187 outlets; harsh wording in 99 in 100Warsaw, Poland -- attacks & violence: 168 stories, carried by 162 outlets; harsh wording in 99 in 100Bangkok, Thailand -- protests & strikes: 272 stories, carried by 189 outlets; harsh wording in 99 in 100Yuba County, US -- attacks & violence: 331 stories, carried by 255 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Kabul, Afghanistan -- protests & strikes: 539 stories, carried by 385 outlets; harsh wording in 99 in 100Bedford County, US -- accidents & disasters: 385 stories, carried by 343 outlets; harsh wording in 99 in 100Herat, Afghanistan -- attacks & violence: 382 stories, carried by 390 outlets; harsh wording in 99 in 100Lisbon, Portugal -- accidents & disasters: 235 stories, carried by 367 outlets; harsh wording in 100 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 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.