← 13 Oct Saturday 14 October 2017 · to 23:59 UTC 15 Oct →
What the world's news said happened to people.
Counts of coverage, not of suffering
28,862 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 Raqqa, protests in Ambohitsara (Madagascar) and rights and justice in Kabul. Madagascar's coverage was about three times as grief-stricken as the world's. Everywhere we counted, the words were about as usual.

Reports of abductions ran at about 4 times the usual rate, most often about Canada and the US → Help and hope: reports of people freed or reunited ran at about 5 times the usual rate →
Part of lifeRights & justice 25 in 100 of the stories about harm · about as usual Country that rose mostCôte d’Ivoire 87 in 100 of its 430 stories, usually 26
RegionSub-Saharan Africa 43 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 →
Conflict & violence

Syria

933 of its 1,025 stories (91%) were about people being harmed, usually 73%. Raqqa accounted for 662 of Syria's 933 stories about harm, carried by 567 outlets. Reports of evacuations ran at about 6 times the usual rate (79 stories). Polio was named in 17 of its stories about harm, about 6 times usual, with measles. Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's.

Protests & strikes

Madagascar

47 of its 56 stories (84%) were about people being harmed, usually 48%. 10 of Ambohitsara's 10 stories were about protests or strikes. Ebola was named in 23 of its stories about harm, about 4 times usual, with malaria and hiv. Its coverage was about three times as grief-stricken as the world's.

Rights & justice

Afghanistan

375 of its 452 stories (83%) were about people being harmed, usually 62%. Kabul accounted for 207 of Afghanistan's 375 stories about harm, carried by 218 outlets. Reports of abductions ran at about 9 times the usual rate (111 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as angry as the world's.

6 more places the news pointed at
Conflict & violence

Somalia

514 of its 558 stories (92%) were about people being harmed, usually 59%. Mogadishu accounted for 484 of Somalia's 514 stories about harm, carried by 424 outlets. Reports of people injured ran at about 6 times the usual rate (314 stories). Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's. Fear in its coverage rose to about one and a half times its own usual.

Conflict & violence

Pakistan

674 of its 1,375 stories (49%) were about people being harmed, usually 40%. Reports of people affected ran at about three times the usual rate (95 stories). Power cuts were named in 10 of its stories about harm, about 5 times usual. Its coverage was about one and a half times as fearful as the world's.

Conflict & violence

Kenya

268 of its 530 stories (51%) were about people being harmed, usually 24%. Reports of people injured ran at about three times the usual rate (46 stories). Its coverage was about three times as angry as the world's.

Conflict & violence

Guatemala

39 of its 46 stories (85%) were about people being harmed, usually 35%. Reports of people killed ran at about 4 times the usual rate (38 stories). Its coverage was about three times as grief-stricken as the world's.

Protests & strikes

Poland

108 of its 291 stories (37%) were about people being harmed, usually 16%. 32 of Warsaw's 59 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of arrests ran at more than ten times the usual rate (39 stories).

Rights & justice

Canada

1,241 of its 3,521 stories (35%) were about people being harmed, usually 18%. Reports of abductions ran at more than ten times the usual rate (303 stories). Anger in its coverage rose to about one and a half times its own usual.

Also named far more than usual: wildfires in Russia (76 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); wildfires in US (2518 of its stories, about 6 times its usual); earthquake in South Korea (26 of its stories, about 5 times its usual); landslides in Armenia (21 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); polio in Yemen (17 of its stories, more than ten times its usual).

26 in 100 stories were about harm

usually 23; 22 the day before
28 in 10020 in 10015 Sep22 Sep29 Sep6 Oct14 Oct15 Sep: 24 in 10016 Sep: 27 in 10017 Sep: 27 in 10018 Sep: 23 in 10019 Sep: 23 in 10020 Sep: 23 in 10021 Sep: 23 in 10022 Sep: 22 in 10023 Sep: 24 in 10024 Sep: 24 in 10025 Sep: 20 in 10026 Sep: 21 in 10027 Sep: 20 in 10028 Sep: 22 in 10029 Sep: 23 in 10030 Sep: 23 in 1001 Oct: 21 in 1002 Oct: 28 in 1003 Oct: 26 in 1004 Oct: 24 in 1005 Oct: 23 in 1006 Oct: 23 in 1007 Oct: 27 in 1008 Oct: 26 in 1009 Oct: 22 in 10010 Oct: 22 in 10011 Oct: 21 in 10012 Oct: 22 in 10013 Oct: 22 in 10014 Oct: 26 in 100 · this day

Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 14 Oct. 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 28,862 stories about harm among 113,001 counted on 14 Oct.

Read the day's briefing

Reports of people freed or reunited, a sign of help, ran at about 5 times the usual rate. 26 in every 100 of the day's 113,001 news stories were about people being harmed, above the usual 23. Reports of abductions ran at about 4 times the usual rate, most often about Canada and the US. Russia's news mentioned wildfires more than ten times as often as usual. A year earlier, on 14 October 2016, 20 in every 100 stories were about people being harmed, against 26 today.

Written by code from the day's numbers.

Where it happened

feelings in full →
Feelings Events Harm Warmth
Mission Beach, Australia -- deaths, cause not given: 42 stories, carried by 82 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Lokichogio, Kenya -- attacks & violence: 70 stories, carried by 71 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Lagos, Nigeria -- attacks & violence: 87 stories, carried by 157 outlets; harsh wording in 92 in 100Balukhali, Bangladesh -- people displaced: 68 stories, carried by 51 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Tokyo, Japan -- accidents & disasters: 92 stories, carried by 78 outlets; harsh wording in 89 in 100Taj Mahal, India -- deaths, cause not given: 21 stories, carried by 65 outlets; harsh wording in 95 in 100British Isles, Ireland -- accidents & disasters: 46 stories, carried by 53 outlets; harsh wording in 98 in 100Nairobi, Kenya -- attacks & violence: 83 stories, carried by 77 outlets; harsh wording in 90 in 100Pulwama, Kashmir -- attacks & violence: 117 stories, carried by 53 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Deir Ezzor, Syria -- attacks & violence: 108 stories, carried by 68 outlets; harsh wording in 98 in 100Havana, Cuba -- protests & strikes: 76 stories, carried by 125 outlets; harsh wording in 99 in 100Petersburg, Russia -- protests & strikes: 87 stories, carried by 96 outlets; harsh wording in 97 in 100Islamabad, Pakistan -- attacks & violence: 296 stories, carried by 206 outlets; harsh wording in 82 in 100Kirkuk, Iraq -- attacks & violence: 138 stories, carried by 101 outlets; harsh wording in 99 in 100Northern Ireland, UK -- accidents & disasters: 98 stories, carried by 190 outlets; harsh wording in 91 in 100Johannesburg, South Africa -- accidents & disasters: 132 stories, carried by 133 outlets; harsh wording in 98 in 100Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire -- accidents & disasters: 372 stories, carried by 291 outlets; harsh wording in 99 in 100Ambohitsara, Madagascar -- protests & strikes: 10 stories, carried by 121 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Mandalay, Myanmar -- attacks & violence: 89 stories, carried by 135 outlets; harsh wording in 99 in 100Las Vegas, US -- attacks & violence: 379 stories, carried by 512 outlets; harsh wording in 97 in 100Tehran, Iran -- attacks & violence: 572 stories, carried by 439 outlets; harsh wording in 96 in 100Mogadishu, Somalia -- attacks & violence: 484 stories, carried by 424 outlets; harsh wording in 99 in 100Raqqa, Syria -- attacks & violence: 662 stories, carried by 567 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Sonoma, US -- accidents & disasters: 1,751 stories, carried by 1,300 outlets; harsh wording in 98 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.

● 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

The week in human impact

Read the week →

Unlock a year of trends, free. Follow up to 5 countries, with a bell when their news changes, and 👍 vote for Pro — ten years of the archive, any period, daily alerts.

Create a free account

Sign in · a username, an email and a password.

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.