← 2 Nov Friday 3 November 2017 · to 23:59 UTC 4 Nov →
What the world's news said happened to people.
Counts of coverage, not of suffering
45,894 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 protests in Golan Heights (Syria), violence in Tehran and people killed in Panama. Syria's coverage was about twice as angry as the world's. In the world's news as a whole, the wording was 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 31 in 100 of the stories about harm · more than usual Country that rose mostIran 67 in 100 of its 607 stories, usually 28
RegionMiddle East & North Africa 48 in 100 of its stories, usually 39
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 →
Protests & strikes

Syria

1,060 of its 1,283 stories (83%) were about people being harmed, usually 73%. 153 of Golan Heights' 275 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of arrests ran at about 4 times the usual rate (89 stories). Building collapse was named in 19 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual. Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's.

Conflict & violence

Iran

408 of its 607 stories (67%) were about people being harmed, usually 28%. Tehran accounted for 271 of Iran's 408 stories about harm, carried by 219 outlets. Reports of people killed ran at about 5 times the usual rate (182 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as fearful as the world's.

Health

Panama

36 of its 106 stories (34%) were about people being harmed, usually 13%. Reports of people killed ran at about 7 times the usual rate (30 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as warm as the world's.

6 more places the news pointed at
Protests & strikes

Spain

1,106 of its 2,072 stories (53%) were about people being harmed, usually 22%. Madrid accounted for 781 of Spain's 1,106 stories about harm, carried by 464 outlets. 687 of Madrid's 781 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of arrests ran at about 9 times the usual rate (954 stories).

Conflict & violence

Malta

230 of its 338 stories (68%) were about people being harmed, usually 46%. Valletta accounted for 148 of Malta's 230 stories about harm, carried by 128 outlets. Reports of people killed ran at about three times the usual rate (121 stories). Its coverage was about 4 times as grief-stricken as the world's.

Protests & strikes

Yemen

119 of its 147 stories (81%) were about people being harmed, usually 73%. Sheikh Abdullah accounted for 86 of Yemen's 119 stories about harm, carried by 106 outlets. 83 of Sheikh Abdullah's 86 stories were about protests or strikes. Tsunami was named in 82 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual.

Conflict & violence

Iraq

584 of its 792 stories (74%) were about people being harmed, usually 41%. Reports of people injured ran at about twice the usual rate (68 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as angry as the world's.

Conflict & violence

North Macedonia

69 of its 103 stories (67%) were about people being harmed, usually 24%. Skopje accounted for 59 of North Macedonia's 69 stories about harm, carried by 56 outlets. Reports of people killed ran at about 6 times the usual rate (52 stories).

Conflict & violence

Italy

295 of its 1,138 stories (26%) were about people being harmed, usually 16%. Reports of people affected ran at about twice the usual rate (58 stories). Anger in its coverage rose to about one and a half times its own usual.

Also named far more than usual: tsunami in Yemen (82 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); earthquake in Japan (93 of its stories, about 4 times its usual); extreme cold in Jersey (14 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); drought in Botswana (14 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); bird flu in Tanzania (10 of its stories, more than ten times its usual).

21 in 100 stories were about harm

usually 23; 22 the day before
27 in 10020 in 1005 Oct12 Oct19 Oct26 Oct3 Nov5 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 10018 Oct: 22 in 10019 Oct: 22 in 10020 Oct: 22 in 10021 Oct: 27 in 10022 Oct: 25 in 10023 Oct: 22 in 10024 Oct: 21 in 10025 Oct: 20 in 10026 Oct: 21 in 10027 Oct: 21 in 10028 Oct: 23 in 10029 Oct: 24 in 10030 Oct: 21 in 10031 Oct: 21 in 1001 Nov: 24 in 1002 Nov: 22 in 1003 Nov: 21 in 100 · this day

Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 3 Nov. 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 45,894 stories about harm among 220,315 counted on 3 Nov.

Read the day's briefing

On the side of help, reports of people freed or reunited ran at about one and a half times the usual rate. On 3 November 2016, a year earlier, the share was 18 in every 100, against 21 today. 21 in every 100 of the day's 220,315 news stories were about people being harmed, below the usual 23. In Syria, 83% of the news was about people being harmed, where 73% is usual.

Written by code from the day's numbers.

Where it happened

feelings in full →
Feelings Events Harm Warmth
Molenbeek, Belgium -- attacks & violence: 86 stories, carried by 78 outlets; harsh wording in 99 in 100Sydney, Australia -- people displaced: 331 stories, carried by 231 outlets; harsh wording in 90 in 100Paris, France -- attacks & violence: 171 stories, carried by 192 outlets; harsh wording in 85 in 100Euphrates River, Iraq -- attacks & violence: 87 stories, carried by 87 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Tokyo, Japan -- attacks & violence: 167 stories, carried by 260 outlets; harsh wording in 83 in 100Cairo, Egypt -- attacks & violence: 172 stories, carried by 196 outlets; harsh wording in 92 in 100Kalymnos, Greece -- accidents & disasters: 102 stories, carried by 97 outlets; harsh wording in 99 in 100Manus Island, Papua New Guinea -- people displaced: 95 stories, carried by 115 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Niger Delta, Nigeria -- attacks & violence: 126 stories, carried by 106 outlets; harsh wording in 98 in 100Sheikh Abdullah, Yemen -- protests & strikes: 86 stories, carried by 106 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Raqqa, Syria -- attacks & violence: 86 stories, carried by 125 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Shava, Zimbabwe -- protests & strikes: 129 stories, carried by 118 outlets; harsh wording in 99 in 100Valletta, Malta -- attacks & violence: 148 stories, carried by 128 outlets; harsh wording in 99 in 100Qandala, Somalia -- attacks & violence: 71 stories, carried by 120 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Yogyakarta, Indonesia -- disease & outbreaks: 9 stories, carried by 120 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Damascus, Syria -- attacks & violence: 205 stories, carried by 163 outlets; harsh wording in 97 in 100Karlsruhe, Germany -- attacks & violence: 146 stories, carried by 166 outlets; harsh wording in 97 in 100Barcelona, Spain -- protests & strikes: 171 stories, carried by 192 outlets; harsh wording in 99 in 100Tehran, Iran -- attacks & violence: 271 stories, carried by 219 outlets; harsh wording in 99 in 100Puntland, Somalia -- attacks & violence: 107 stories, carried by 243 outlets; harsh wording in 98 in 100Qaim, Iraq -- attacks & violence: 266 stories, carried by 256 outlets; harsh wording in 93 in 100Madrid, Spain -- protests & strikes: 781 stories, carried by 464 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100New York, US -- attacks & violence: 1,023 stories, carried by 1,151 outlets; harsh wording in 91 in 100Manhattan, US -- attacks & violence: 749 stories, carried by 789 outlets; harsh wording in 95 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.

● Angerabout as 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?

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.