← 15 Sep Saturday 16 September 2017 · to 23:59 UTC 17 Sep →
What the world's news said happened to people.
Counts of coverage, not of suffering
30,900 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 the hunger in Uganda, evacuations in Vietnam and people displaced in Bujumbura. Burundi's coverage was about three times as grief-stricken as the world's. Everywhere we counted, the words were harsher than usual.

Reports of refugees ran at about twice the usual rate, most often about Bangladesh and Iraq → Reports of people displaced ran at about twice the usual rate, most often about Iraq and the Central African Republic → Help and hope: reports of peace efforts ran at about one and a half times the usual rate →
Part of lifeRights & justice 27 in 100 of the stories about harm · more than usual Country that rose mostGuatemala 78 in 100 of its 99 stories, usually 17
RegionMiddle East & North Africa 51 in 100 of its stories, usually 43
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 →
Rights & justice

Uganda

140 of its 244 stories (57%) were about people being harmed, usually 33%. Masaka accounted for 104 of Uganda's 140 stories about harm, carried by 80 outlets. Reports of people displaced ran at more than ten times the usual rate (102 stories). Hunger was named in 49 of its stories about harm, about 6 times usual.

Disasters & accidents

Vietnam

149 of its 354 stories (42%) were about people being harmed, usually 22%. Reports of evacuations ran at about 5 times the usual rate (34 stories). Natural hazards were named in 40 of its stories about harm, about 6 times usual. Fear in its coverage rose to about one and a half times its own usual.

Displacement

Burundi

170 of its 179 stories (95%) were about people being harmed, usually 72%. Bujumbura accounted for 125 of Burundi's 170 stories about harm, carried by 105 outlets. Reports of arrests ran at more than ten times the usual rate (127 stories). Its coverage was about three times as grief-stricken as the world's.

6 more places the news pointed at
Displacement

Congo

98 of its 101 stories (97%) were about people being harmed, usually 48%. Reports of people injured ran at more than ten times the usual rate (84 stories). Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's. Warmth in its coverage rose to about one and a half times its own usual.

Health

Tanzania

77 of its 115 stories (67%) were about people being harmed, usually 27%. Reports of arrests ran at about 8 times the usual rate (59 stories). HIV was named in 56 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual.

Disasters & accidents

Malaysia

339 of its 719 stories (47%) were about people being harmed, usually 23%. Reports of arrests ran at about 6 times the usual rate (224 stories). Landslides were named in 10 of its stories about harm, about 9 times usual.

Conflict & violence

UK

2,945 of its 7,104 stories (41%) were about people being harmed, usually 20%. Reports of people injured ran at more than ten times the usual rate (1,785 stories). Its coverage was about twice as fearful as the world's. Anger in its coverage rose to about twice its own usual.

Rights & justice

Ireland

364 of its 1,149 stories (32%) were about people being harmed, usually 16%. Reports of arrests ran at more than ten times the usual rate (270 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as angry as the world's.

Conflict & violence

Lesotho

65 of its 96 stories (68%) were about people being harmed, usually 48%. Maseru accounted for 62 of Lesotho's 65 stories about harm, carried by 54 outlets. Its coverage was about one and a half times as warm as the world's.

Also named far more than usual: hiv in Tanzania (56 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); storms in Bermuda (20 of its stories, about three times its usual); earthquake in Nepal (23 of its stories, about three times its usual); measles in Bangladesh (81 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); landslides in Thailand (13 of its stories, more than ten times its usual).

27 in 100 stories were about harm

usually 26; 24 the day before
33 in 10022 in 10018 Aug25 Aug1 Sep8 Sep16 Sep18 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 1006 Sep: 23 in 1007 Sep: 25 in 1008 Sep: 26 in 1009 Sep: 30 in 10010 Sep: 33 in 10011 Sep: 29 in 10012 Sep: 25 in 10013 Sep: 24 in 10014 Sep: 23 in 10015 Sep: 24 in 10016 Sep: 27 in 100 · this day

Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 16 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 30,900 stories about harm among 112,717 counted on 16 Sep.

Read the day's briefing

On the side of help, reports of peace efforts ran at about one and a half times the usual rate. Stories about people being harmed made up 27 in every 100 of the day's 112,717 stories, above the usual 26. Reports of refugees ran at about twice the usual rate, most often about Bangladesh and Iraq. In Tanzania's news, mentions of HIV ran more than ten times their usual. A year earlier, on 16 September 2016, 20 in every 100 stories were about people being harmed, against 27 today.

Written by code from the day's numbers.

Where it happened

feelings in full →
Feelings Events Harm Warmth
Doha, Qatar -- protests & strikes: 74 stories, carried by 55 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Moscow, Russia -- protests & strikes: 93 stories, carried by 83 outlets; harsh wording in 97 in 100Kutupalong, Bangladesh -- people displaced: 149 stories, carried by 139 outlets; harsh wording in 98 in 100Sanaa, Yemen -- attacks & violence: 55 stories, carried by 47 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Maseru, Lesotho -- attacks & violence: 62 stories, carried by 54 outlets; harsh wording in 98 in 100Damascus, Syria -- attacks & violence: 75 stories, carried by 55 outlets; harsh wording in 99 in 100Lesser Antilles, Guadeloupe -- accidents & disasters: 37 stories, carried by 50 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Ha Tinh, Vietnam -- accidents & disasters: 70 stories, carried by 56 outlets; harsh wording in 97 in 100Akashat, Iraq -- attacks & violence: 95 stories, carried by 59 outlets; harsh wording in 96 in 100Kedah, Malaysia -- protests & strikes: 17 stories, carried by 93 outlets; harsh wording in 88 in 100Cabo Verde, Mexico -- accidents & disasters: 29 stories, carried by 65 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Bambari, Central African Republic -- attacks & violence: 82 stories, carried by 85 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Islamabad, Pakistan -- attacks & violence: 162 stories, carried by 125 outlets; harsh wording in 93 in 100Idlib, Syria -- attacks & violence: 120 stories, carried by 103 outlets; harsh wording in 96 in 100Dover, UK -- attacks & violence: 64 stories, carried by 172 outlets; harsh wording in 97 in 100Bujumbura, Burundi -- people displaced: 125 stories, carried by 105 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Pyongyang, North Korea -- attacks & violence: 123 stories, carried by 134 outlets; harsh wording in 93 in 100Cabo San Lucas, Mexico -- accidents & disasters: 142 stories, carried by 111 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia -- accidents & disasters: 263 stories, carried by 200 outlets; harsh wording in 96 in 100Baghdad, Iraq -- attacks & violence: 325 stories, carried by 194 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Dhaka, Bangladesh -- protests & strikes: 281 stories, carried by 315 outlets; harsh wording in 99 in 100Miami, US -- accidents & disasters: 427 stories, carried by 406 outlets; harsh wording in 95 in 100Central West End, US -- protests & strikes: 365 stories, carried by 386 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100London, UK -- attacks & violence: 2,247 stories, carried by 1,440 outlets; harsh wording in 97 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 as 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?

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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.