← 15 Aug Wednesday 16 August 2017 · to 23:59 UTC 17 Aug →
What the world's news said happened to people.
Counts of coverage, not of suffering
48,230 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 rights and justice in Lusaka, a disaster in Freetown and deaths in Funchal. Sierra Leone's coverage was about 4 times as grief-stricken as the world's. Language across the world's news ran about as usual.

Part of lifeRights & justice 40 in 100 of the stories about harm · much more than usual Country that rose mostGuatemala 88 in 100 of its 192 stories, usually 37
RegionSoutheast Asia 35 in 100 of its stories, usually 29
Tone of the words About as usual across the world's stories about harm

What the world's news was about today

how these are picked →
Rights & justice

Zambia

175 of its 325 stories (54%) were about people being harmed, usually 22%. Lusaka accounted for 146 of Zambia's 175 stories about harm, carried by 118 outlets. Reports of arrests ran at about twice the usual rate (52 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as warm as the world's.

Disasters & accidents

Sierra Leone

710 of its 810 stories (88%) were about people being harmed, usually 64%. Freetown accounted for 676 of Sierra Leone's 710 stories about harm, carried by 651 outlets. Reports of people affected ran at about three times the usual rate (505 stories). Its coverage was about 4 times as grief-stricken as the world's. Fear in its coverage rose to about one and a half times its own usual.

Deaths & injuries, cause not given

Portugal

183 of its 310 stories (59%) were about people being harmed, usually 41%. Funchal accounted for 139 of Portugal's 183 stories about harm, carried by 157 outlets. Reports of arrests ran at about 4 times the usual rate (10 stories). Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's.

Protests & strikes

Burkina Faso

106 of its 121 stories (88%) were about people being harmed, usually 76%. Ouagadougou accounted for 103 of Burkina Faso's 106 stories about harm, carried by 96 outlets. 60 of Ouagadougou's 103 stories were about protests or strikes. Its coverage was about three times as fearful as the world's. Warmth in its coverage rose to about one and a half times its own usual.

6 more places the news pointed at
Conflict & violence

Philippines

805 of its 1,901 stories (42%) were about people being harmed, usually 37%. Reports of arrests ran at about three times the usual rate (306 stories). Bird flu was named in 118 of its stories about harm, about 6 times usual, with outbreaks and ebola. Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's.

Protests & strikes

South Africa

587 of its 2,057 stories (29%) were about people being harmed, usually 23%. 147 of Marikana's 203 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of people injured ran at about 5 times the usual rate (179 stories). Anger in its coverage rose to about one and a half times its own usual.

Conflict & violence

Guatemala

169 of its 192 stories (88%) were about people being harmed, usually 37%. Reports of arrests ran at about 9 times the usual rate (155 stories). Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's.

Rights & justice

Ecuador

47 of its 77 stories (61%) were about people being harmed, usually 15%. Quito accounted for 44 of Ecuador's 47 stories about harm, carried by 44 outlets. Reports of arrests ran at more than ten times the usual rate (46 stories).

Conflict & violence

Colombia

111 of its 198 stories (56%) were about people being harmed, usually 30%. Reports of people displaced ran at about 5 times the usual rate (59 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as warm as the world's.

Shelter & services

Taiwan

195 of its 485 stories (40%) were about people being harmed, usually 20%. Reports of people affected ran at about 8 times the usual rate (154 stories). Earthquake was named in 55 of its stories about harm, about 10 times usual, with power cuts.

Also named far more than usual: wildfires in Greece (146 of its stories, about 4 times its usual); storms in Poland (43 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); wildfires in Albania (15 of its stories, about 5 times its usual); earthquake in Taiwan (55 of its stories, about 10 times its usual); landslides in Latvia (11 of its stories, more than ten times its usual).

24 in 100 stories were about harm

usually 22; 24 the day before
29 in 10020 in 10018 Jul25 Jul1 Aug8 Aug16 Aug18 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 1003 Aug: 21 in 1004 Aug: 21 in 1005 Aug: 22 in 1006 Aug: 24 in 1007 Aug: 21 in 1008 Aug: 21 in 1009 Aug: 21 in 10010 Aug: 20 in 10011 Aug: 20 in 10012 Aug: 25 in 10013 Aug: 29 in 10014 Aug: 26 in 10015 Aug: 24 in 10016 Aug: 24 in 100 · this day

Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 16 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 48,230 stories about harm among 204,234 counted on 16 Aug.

Read the day's briefing

Zambia's news was 54% about people being harmed, against a usual 22%. of the day's 204,234 news stories, 24 in every 100 were about people being harmed, above the usual 22. On 16 August 2016, a year earlier, the share was 22 in every 100, against 24 today.

Written by code from the day's numbers.

Where it happened

feelings in full →
Feelings Events Harm Warmth
New Delhi, India -- attacks & violence: 309 stories, carried by 149 outlets; harsh wording in 88 in 100Tal Afar, Iraq -- attacks & violence: 49 stories, carried by 43 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Bihar, India -- accidents & disasters: 123 stories, carried by 54 outlets; harsh wording in 87 in 100Istanbul, Türkiye -- attacks & violence: 57 stories, carried by 52 outlets; harsh wording in 95 in 100Sydney, Australia -- attacks & violence: 299 stories, carried by 206 outlets; harsh wording in 87 in 100Szczecin, Poland -- accidents & disasters: 40 stories, carried by 47 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Jakarta, Indonesia -- attacks & violence: 164 stories, carried by 100 outlets; harsh wording in 96 in 100Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso -- protests & strikes: 103 stories, carried by 96 outlets; harsh wording in 99 in 100Nirim, Israel -- attacks & violence: 61 stories, carried by 57 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Baghdad, Iraq -- protests & strikes: 100 stories, carried by 92 outlets; harsh wording in 98 in 100Ankara, Türkiye -- attacks & violence: 134 stories, carried by 89 outlets; harsh wording in 95 in 100Bali, Indonesia -- protests & strikes: 22 stories, carried by 114 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Marikana, South Africa -- protests & strikes: 203 stories, carried by 127 outlets; harsh wording in 98 in 100Paris, France -- attacks & violence: 150 stories, carried by 142 outlets; harsh wording in 97 in 100Pyongyang, North Korea -- attacks & violence: 167 stories, carried by 144 outlets; harsh wording in 98 in 100Kabul, Afghanistan -- attacks & violence: 131 stories, carried by 119 outlets; harsh wording in 96 in 100Athens, Greece -- accidents & disasters: 146 stories, carried by 127 outlets; harsh wording in 99 in 100Funchal, Portugal -- deaths, cause not given: 139 stories, carried by 157 outlets; harsh wording in 99 in 100Maiduguri, Nigeria -- attacks & violence: 239 stories, carried by 189 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Manchester, UK -- attacks & violence: 272 stories, carried by 341 outlets; harsh wording in 68 in 100Nairobi, Kenya -- protests & strikes: 353 stories, carried by 228 outlets; harsh wording in 98 in 100San Bernardino, US -- attacks & violence: 160 stories, carried by 201 outlets; harsh wording in 98 in 100Freetown, Sierra Leone -- accidents & disasters: 676 stories, carried by 651 outlets; harsh wording in 98 in 100Charlottesville, US -- protests & strikes: 5,753 stories, carried by 2,419 outlets; harsh wording in 99 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 about as usual. Filled dot: today. Ring: usual.

● Angera little more than 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.