← 4 Sep Tuesday 5 September 2017 · to 23:59 UTC 6 Sep →
What the world's news said happened to people.
Counts of coverage, not of suffering
44,397 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 illness in Maseru, protests in Rathedaung (Myanmar) and a disaster in Anegada. Lesotho's coverage was about 4 times as grief-stricken as the world's. Taken together, the world's news read much softer than usual.

Help and hope: reports of peace efforts ran at about one and a half times the usual rate →
Part of lifeDisasters & accidents 29 in 100 of the stories about harm · much more than usual Country that rose mostPuerto Rico 85 in 100 of its 388 stories, usually 25
RegionLatin America & Caribbean 35 in 100 of its stories, usually 29
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

Lesotho

144 of its 176 stories (82%) were about people being harmed, usually 30%. Maseru accounted for 102 of Lesotho's 144 stories about harm, carried by 84 outlets. Reports of people killed ran at about 5 times the usual rate (133 stories). HIV was named in 42 of its stories about harm, about 4 times usual. Its coverage was about 4 times as grief-stricken as the world's. Fear in its coverage rose to about twice its own usual.

Protests & strikes

Myanmar

171 of its 216 stories (79%) were about people being harmed, usually 60%. 26 of Rathedaung's 35 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of evacuations ran at about 4 times the usual rate (8 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as fearful as the world's.

Rights & justice

Cuba

199 of its 290 stories (69%) were about people being harmed, usually 31%. Havana accounted for 126 of Cuba's 199 stories about harm, carried by 130 outlets. Reports of people killed ran at more than ten times the usual rate (160 stories).

6 more places the news pointed at
Conflict & violence

Bangladesh

796 of its 1,010 stories (79%) were about people being harmed, usually 54%. Reports of refugees ran at about 4 times the usual rate (450 stories). Dengue was named in 19 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual. Its coverage was about one and a half times as fearful as the world's.

Protests & strikes

Chile

90 of its 268 stories (34%) were about people being harmed, usually 16%. 63 of Santiago's 79 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of people affected ran at about 7 times the usual rate (44 stories). Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's.

Conflict & violence

North Korea

798 of its 2,573 stories (31%) were about people being harmed, usually 17%. Reports of evacuations ran at about three times the usual rate (5 stories). Poisoning was named in 12 of its stories about harm, about 10 times usual. Its coverage was about one and a half times as angry as the world's.

Rights & justice

Denmark

283 of its 572 stories (49%) were about people being harmed, usually 26%. Copenhagen accounted for 232 of Denmark's 283 stories about harm, carried by 227 outlets. Reports of people affected ran at about three times the usual rate (198 stories).

Rights & justice

Cambodia

242 of its 356 stories (68%) were about people being harmed, usually 44%. Phnom Penh accounted for 153 of Cambodia's 242 stories about harm, carried by 129 outlets. Reports of arrests ran at about 4 times the usual rate (78 stories).

Disasters & accidents

Guadeloupe

133 of its 135 stories (99%) were about people being harmed, usually 71%. the Leeward Islands accounted for 126 of Guadeloupe's 133 stories about harm, carried by 165 outlets. Storm surge was named in 34 of its stories about harm, about 4 times usual.

Also named far more than usual: drought in Ethiopia (88 of its stories, about 4 times its usual); malaria in Italy (91 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); cholera in Saudi Arabia (37 of its stories, about 7 times its usual); road crashes in France (92 of its stories, about 4 times its usual); storm surge in Guadeloupe (34 of its stories, about 4 times its usual).

24 in 100 stories were about harm

usually 25; 25 the day before
30 in 10020 in 1007 Aug14 Aug21 Aug28 Aug5 Sep7 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 1005 Sep: 24 in 100 · this day

Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 5 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 44,397 stories about harm among 185,203 counted on 5 Sep.

Read the day's briefing

Reports of peace efforts, a sign of help, ran at about one and a half times the usual rate. 24 in every 100 of the day's 185,203 news stories were about people being harmed, as usual. In Lesotho, 82% of the news was about people being harmed, where 30% is usual. Ethiopia's news mentioned the drought about 4 times as often as usual. On 5 September 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
Gulf of Mexico, Mexico -- accidents & disasters: 22 stories, carried by 57 outlets; harsh wording in 95 in 100Tehran, Iran -- protests & strikes: 104 stories, carried by 93 outlets; harsh wording in 98 in 100Ramallah, Palestine -- protests & strikes: 180 stories, carried by 89 outlets; harsh wording in 98 in 100Anadolu, Türkiye -- people displaced: 97 stories, carried by 85 outlets; harsh wording in 99 in 100Caracas, Venezuela -- protests & strikes: 61 stories, carried by 64 outlets; harsh wording in 97 in 100Santiago, Chile -- protests & strikes: 79 stories, carried by 71 outlets; harsh wording in 96 in 100Tigray, Ethiopia -- accidents & disasters: 68 stories, carried by 61 outlets; harsh wording in 94 in 100Kabul, Afghanistan -- attacks & violence: 121 stories, carried by 88 outlets; harsh wording in 97 in 100Islamabad, Pakistan -- attacks & violence: 186 stories, carried by 101 outlets; harsh wording in 91 in 100Niger Delta, Nigeria -- attacks & violence: 108 stories, carried by 106 outlets; harsh wording in 88 in 100Raqqa, Syria -- attacks & violence: 102 stories, carried by 88 outlets; harsh wording in 92 in 100Teknaf, Bangladesh -- protests & strikes: 137 stories, carried by 121 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Lake Chad, Nigeria -- attacks & violence: 125 stories, carried by 95 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Cooma, Australia -- accidents & disasters: 20 stories, carried by 98 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Damascus, Syria -- protests & strikes: 143 stories, carried by 193 outlets; harsh wording in 95 in 100Paris, France -- accidents & disasters: 301 stories, carried by 241 outlets; harsh wording in 93 in 100Xiamen, China -- attacks & violence: 224 stories, carried by 196 outlets; harsh wording in 82 in 100Leeward Islands, Guadeloupe -- accidents & disasters: 126 stories, carried by 165 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Anegada, British Virgin Islands -- accidents & disasters: 112 stories, carried by 187 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Moscow, Russia -- attacks & violence: 255 stories, carried by 262 outlets; harsh wording in 96 in 100Seoul, South Korea -- attacks & violence: 445 stories, carried by 394 outlets; harsh wording in 97 in 100Pyongyang, North Korea -- attacks & violence: 602 stories, carried by 567 outlets; harsh wording in 98 in 100Miami, US -- accidents & disasters: 1,585 stories, carried by 1,219 outlets; harsh wording in 98 in 100Houston, US -- accidents & disasters: 2,845 stories, carried by 1,804 outlets; harsh wording in 87 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.

● Angerabout two-thirds of 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?

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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.