← 3 Sep Monday 4 September 2017 · to 23:59 UTC 5 Sep →
What the world's news said happened to people.
Counts of coverage, not of suffering
34,078 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 violence in Seoul, protests in Jakarta (Indonesia) and tropical storm in Puerto Rico. Worldwide, the words used were much softer than usual.

Reports of refugees ran at about twice the usual rate, most often about Bangladesh and Sweden → Help and hope: reports of peace efforts ran at about twice the usual rate →
Part of lifeDisasters & accidents 27 in 100 of the stories about harm · more than usual Country that rose mostPuerto Rico 87 in 100 of its 313 stories, usually 14
RegionEast Asia 29 in 100 of its stories, usually 18
Tone of the words Much softer than usual across the world's stories about harm

What the world's news was about today

how these are picked →
Conflict & violence

South Korea

1,033 of its 2,123 stories (49%) were about people being harmed, usually 16%. Seoul accounted for 771 of South Korea's 1,033 stories about harm, carried by 601 outlets. Reports of people killed ran at about 5 times the usual rate (481 stories). Hunger was named in 33 of its stories about harm, about 6 times usual.

Protests & strikes

Indonesia

357 of its 649 stories (55%) were about people being harmed, usually 25%. Jakarta accounted for 304 of Indonesia's 357 stories about harm, carried by 203 outlets. 222 of Jakarta's 304 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of refugees ran at more than ten times the usual rate (43 stories).

Disasters & accidents

Puerto Rico

272 of its 313 stories (87%) were about people being harmed, usually 14%. Reports of evacuations ran at more than ten times the usual rate (7 stories). Tropical storm was named in 102 of its stories about harm, about 4 times usual, with power cuts.

6 more places the news pointed at
Protests & strikes

Bangladesh

644 of its 845 stories (76%) were about people being harmed, usually 52%. 99 of Teknaf's 148 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of refugees ran at about 6 times the usual rate (401 stories). Hunger was named in 110 of its stories about harm, about 7 times usual.

Conflict & violence

Pakistan

309 of its 473 stories (65%) were about people being harmed, usually 40%. Reports of refugees ran at about 4 times the usual rate (11 stories). Heatwave was named in 23 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual. Its coverage was about three times as grief-stricken as the world's. Anger in its coverage rose to about twice its own usual.

Protests & strikes

Chile

71 of its 186 stories (38%) were about people being harmed, usually 15%. 60 of Santiago's 63 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of arrests ran at more than ten times the usual rate (46 stories). Grief in its coverage rose to about twice its own usual.

Protests & strikes

Burundi

191 of its 208 stories (92%) were about people being harmed, usually 50%. 6 of Bujumbura's 9 stories were about protests or strikes. Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's. Fear in its coverage rose to about twice its own usual.

Conflict & violence

North Korea

1,295 of its 3,594 stories (36%) were about people being harmed, usually 16%. Reports of evacuations ran at about 6 times the usual rate (11 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as angry as the world's.

Protests & strikes

Myanmar

139 of its 171 stories (81%) were about people being harmed, usually 59%. 32 of Yangon's 49 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of refugees ran at about 8 times the usual rate (59 stories).

Also named far more than usual: tropical storm in Bahamas (61 of its stories, about three times its usual); volcanic eruption in Nicaragua (15 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); flu in Switzerland (29 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); earthquake in Japan (42 of its stories, about three times its usual); cyclone in Latvia (10 of its stories, about 7 times its usual).

25 in 100 stories were about harm

usually 25; 27 the day before
30 in 10020 in 1006 Aug13 Aug20 Aug27 Aug4 Sep6 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 10017 Aug: 25 in 10018 Aug: 27 in 10019 Aug: 28 in 10020 Aug: 28 in 10021 Aug: 23 in 10022 Aug: 23 in 10023 Aug: 22 in 10024 Aug: 22 in 10025 Aug: 24 in 10026 Aug: 29 in 10027 Aug: 30 in 10028 Aug: 28 in 10029 Aug: 26 in 10030 Aug: 25 in 10031 Aug: 26 in 1001 Sep: 25 in 1002 Sep: 26 in 1003 Sep: 27 in 1004 Sep: 25 in 100 · this day

Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 4 Sep. 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 34,078 stories about harm among 137,004 counted on 4 Sep.

Read the day's briefing

In South Korea, 49% of the news was about people being harmed, where 16% is usual. Stories about people being harmed made up 25 in every 100 of the day's 137,004 stories, as usual. Help and hope: reports of peace efforts ran at about twice the usual rate. Refugees were reported at about twice the usual rate, most often about Bangladesh and Sweden. A year earlier, on 4 September 2016, 24 in every 100 stories were about people being harmed, against 25 today.

Written by code from the day's numbers.

Where it happened

feelings in full →
Feelings Events Harm Warmth
Santiago, Chile -- protests & strikes: 63 stories, carried by 43 outlets; harsh wording in 97 in 100Hamburg, Germany -- accidents & disasters: 53 stories, carried by 58 outlets; harsh wording in 96 in 100Caracas, Venezuela -- protests & strikes: 54 stories, carried by 45 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Berlin, Germany -- attacks & violence: 162 stories, carried by 152 outlets; harsh wording in 96 in 100Sanaa, Yemen -- attacks & violence: 83 stories, carried by 64 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Aleppo, Syria -- attacks & violence: 21 stories, carried by 71 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Alice Springs, Australia -- deaths, cause not given: 37 stories, carried by 69 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso -- attacks & violence: 68 stories, carried by 69 outlets; harsh wording in 96 in 100Baja California, Mexico -- protests & strikes: 53 stories, carried by 67 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Leeward Islands, Guadeloupe -- accidents & disasters: 80 stories, carried by 74 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Beijing, China -- attacks & violence: 180 stories, carried by 143 outlets; harsh wording in 92 in 100Raqqa, Syria -- protests & strikes: 161 stories, carried by 134 outlets; harsh wording in 98 in 100Cabo Verde, Bahamas -- accidents & disasters: 52 stories, carried by 86 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Teknaf, Bangladesh -- protests & strikes: 148 stories, carried by 141 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Hova, Sweden -- attacks & violence: 120 stories, carried by 135 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Karachi, Pakistan -- attacks & violence: 100 stories, carried by 159 outlets; harsh wording in 96 in 100Ecopetrol, Colombia -- attacks & violence: 126 stories, carried by 141 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Jakarta, Indonesia -- protests & strikes: 304 stories, carried by 203 outlets; harsh wording in 98 in 100Moscow, Russia -- protests & strikes: 224 stories, carried by 299 outlets; harsh wording in 98 in 100Xiamen, China -- attacks & violence: 390 stories, carried by 244 outlets; harsh wording in 81 in 100Los Angeles, US -- accidents & disasters: 618 stories, carried by 608 outlets; harsh wording in 92 in 100Seoul, South Korea -- attacks & violence: 771 stories, carried by 601 outlets; harsh wording in 99 in 100Pyongyang, North Korea -- attacks & violence: 866 stories, carried by 665 outlets; harsh wording in 99 in 100Houston, US -- accidents & disasters: 2,779 stories, carried by 1,587 outlets; harsh wording in 91 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 softer than usual. Filled dot: today. Ring: usual.

● Angera little less than usual
● Warmthabout as usual
● Griefabout two-thirds of 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.