← 16 Oct Tuesday 17 October 2017 · to 23:59 UTC 18 Oct →
What the world's news said happened to people.
Counts of coverage, not of suffering
49,565 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 day's news pointed at violence in Mogadishu, protests in Bafilo (Togo) and people killed in Portugal. Mali's coverage was about twice as warm as the world's. Taken together, the world's news read much harsher than usual.

Help and hope: reports of people freed or reunited ran at about one and a half times the usual rate →
Part of lifeRights & justice 26 in 100 of the stories about harm · about as usual Country that rose mostMalta 61 in 100 of its 857 stories, usually 17
RegionMiddle East & North Africa 42 in 100 of its stories, usually 37
Tone of the words Much harsher than usual across the world's stories about harm

What the world's news was about today

how these are picked →
Conflict & violence

Somalia

811 of its 901 stories (90%) were about people being harmed, usually 77%. Mogadishu accounted for 751 of Somalia's 811 stories about harm, carried by 535 outlets. Reports of evacuations ran at more than ten times the usual rate (184 stories). Hurricane was named in 10 of its stories about harm, about three times usual. Its coverage was about twice as fearful as the world's.

Protests & strikes

Togo

69 of its 72 stories (96%) were about people being harmed, usually 52%. 8 of Bafilo's 8 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of arrests ran at more than ten times the usual rate (40 stories). Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's.

Disasters & accidents

Portugal

274 of its 490 stories (56%) were about people being harmed, usually 21%. Reports of people killed ran at about 4 times the usual rate (263 stories). Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's. Anger in its coverage rose to about one and a half times its own usual.

Displacement

Mali

92 of its 137 stories (67%) were about people being harmed, usually 45%. Reports of people displaced ran at more than ten times the usual rate (68 stories). Its coverage was about twice as warm as the world's. Fear in its coverage rose to about twice its own usual.

6 more places the news pointed at
Conflict & violence

Malta

520 of its 857 stories (61%) were about people being harmed, usually 17%. Valletta accounted for 382 of Malta's 520 stories about harm, carried by 286 outlets. Reports of people killed ran at about 6 times the usual rate (142 stories). Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's.

Conflict & violence

Yemen

271 of its 295 stories (92%) were about people being harmed, usually 68%. Bayda accounted for 134 of Yemen's 271 stories about harm, carried by 174 outlets. Plane crash was named in 11 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual. Its coverage was about three times as angry as the world's. Fear in its coverage rose to about twice its own usual.

Conflict & violence

Türkiye

626 of its 991 stories (63%) were about people being harmed, usually 43%. Reports of people injured ran at about 5 times the usual rate (279 stories). Accidents were named in 116 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. Anger in its coverage rose to about one and a half times its own usual.

Protests & strikes

Spain

791 of its 2,022 stories (39%) were about people being harmed, usually 27%. 256 of Barcelona's 364 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of arrests ran at about 5 times the usual rate (559 stories). Grief in its coverage rose to about twice its own usual.

Protests & strikes

Morocco

75 of its 151 stories (50%) were about people being harmed, usually 22%. 57 of Casablanca's 57 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of refugees ran at about 7 times the usual rate (5 stories).

Disasters & accidents

Ireland

701 of its 1,841 stories (38%) were about people being harmed, usually 19%. Reports of people killed ran at about 4 times the usual rate (378 stories). Road crashes were named in 17 of its stories about harm, about three times usual.

Also named far more than usual: respiratory illness in Fiji (19 of its stories, about 4 times its usual); drownings in Latvia (13 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); accidents in Türkiye (116 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); volcanic eruption in Egypt (30 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); earthquake in Iraq (95 of its stories, more than ten times its usual).

23 in 100 stories were about harm

usually 23; 24 the day before
28 in 10020 in 10018 Sep25 Sep2 Oct9 Oct17 Oct18 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 10015 Oct: 25 in 10016 Oct: 24 in 10017 Oct: 23 in 100 · this day

Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 17 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 49,565 stories about harm among 219,789 counted on 17 Oct.

Read the day's briefing

Reports of people freed or reunited, a sign of help, ran at about one and a half times the usual rate. 23 in every 100 of the day's 219,789 news stories were about people being harmed, as usual. In Fiji's news, mentions of respiratory illness ran about 4 times their usual. A year earlier, on 17 October 2016, 21 in every 100 stories were about people being harmed, against 23 today. Somalia's news was 90% about people being harmed, against a usual 77%.

Written by code from the day's numbers.

Where it happened

feelings in full →
Feelings Events Harm Warmth
Liang Zhao, China -- deaths, cause not given: 63 stories, carried by 66 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Jerusalem, Israel -- attacks & violence: 328 stories, carried by 154 outlets; harsh wording in 90 in 100Casablanca, Morocco -- protests & strikes: 57 stories, carried by 67 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Mandalay, Myanmar -- attacks & violence: 96 stories, carried by 87 outlets; harsh wording in 95 in 100Baghdad, Iraq -- protests & strikes: 151 stories, carried by 131 outlets; harsh wording in 99 in 100Northern Ireland, UK -- accidents & disasters: 165 stories, carried by 153 outlets; harsh wording in 96 in 100Sirnak, Türkiye -- accidents & disasters: 134 stories, carried by 129 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Madrid, Spain -- protests & strikes: 263 stories, carried by 231 outlets; harsh wording in 98 in 100Lisbon, Portugal -- accidents & disasters: 143 stories, carried by 142 outlets; harsh wording in 99 in 100Jakarta, Indonesia -- protests & strikes: 123 stories, carried by 215 outlets; harsh wording in 91 in 100Bayda, Yemen -- attacks & violence: 134 stories, carried by 174 outlets; harsh wording in 99 in 100British Isles, Ireland -- accidents & disasters: 81 stories, carried by 198 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Kabul, Afghanistan -- attacks & violence: 266 stories, carried by 207 outlets; harsh wording in 97 in 100Barcelona, Spain -- protests & strikes: 364 stories, carried by 273 outlets; harsh wording in 99 in 100London, UK -- attacks & violence: 1,031 stories, carried by 862 outlets; harsh wording in 70 in 100Ghazni, Afghanistan -- attacks & violence: 275 stories, carried by 262 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Valletta, Malta -- attacks & violence: 382 stories, carried by 286 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Marawi, Philippines -- attacks & violence: 613 stories, carried by 298 outlets; harsh wording in 97 in 100Pyongyang, North Korea -- attacks & violence: 303 stories, carried by 353 outlets; harsh wording in 98 in 100Kirkuk, Iraq -- attacks & violence: 536 stories, carried by 405 outlets; harsh wording in 97 in 100Dover, US -- attacks & violence: 371 stories, carried by 493 outlets; harsh wording in 99 in 100Mogadishu, Somalia -- attacks & violence: 751 stories, carried by 535 outlets; harsh wording in 99 in 100Sonoma, US -- accidents & disasters: 891 stories, carried by 807 outlets; harsh wording in 96 in 100Raqqa, Syria -- attacks & violence: 1,002 stories, carried by 856 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 much harsher than usual. Filled dot: today. Ring: usual.

● Angera little more than usual
● Warmthabout as usual
● Griefa little more than 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.