← 19 Mar Tuesday 20 March 2018 · to 23:59 UTC 21 Mar →
What the world's news said happened to people.
Counts of coverage, not of suffering
47,315 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 violence in Ghouta, heavy rain in Madagascar and people affected in Namibia. Syria's coverage was about three times as angry as the world's. Taken together, the world's news read about as usual.

Part of lifeRights & justice 27 in 100 of the stories about harm · about as usual Country that rose mostMoldova 88 in 100 of its 178 stories, usually 11
RegionEvery region about as usual
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

1,185 of its 1,415 stories (84%) were about people being harmed, usually 78%. Ghouta accounted for 657 of Syria's 1,185 stories about harm, carried by 411 outlets. Reports of refugees ran at about 6 times the usual rate (318 stories). Hunger was named in 129 of its stories about harm, about 4 times usual. Its coverage was about three times as angry as the world's.

Disasters & accidents

Madagascar

38 of its 53 stories (72%) were about people being harmed, usually 42%. Reports of people affected ran at about 6 times the usual rate (25 stories). Heavy rain was named in 23 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual.

Health

Namibia

35 of its 123 stories (28%) were about people being harmed, usually 18%. Reports of people affected ran at about three times the usual rate (5 stories). Tuberculosis was named in 11 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual.

Rights & justice

Indonesia

Reports of arrests ran at about twice the usual rate (49 stories). Drownings were named in 10 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual. Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's.

6 more places the news pointed at
Conflict & violence

Moldova

157 of its 178 stories (88%) were about people being harmed, usually 11%. Chisinau accounted for 157 of Moldova's 157 stories about harm, carried by 141 outlets. Reports of people killed ran at more than ten times the usual rate (156 stories). Its coverage was about three times as grief-stricken as the world's.

Conflict & violence

Iraq

767 of its 944 stories (81%) were about people being harmed, usually 53%. Badush accounted for 242 of Iraq's 767 stories about harm, carried by 192 outlets. Reports of abductions ran at more than ten times the usual rate (441 stories). Its coverage was about 4 times as grief-stricken as the world's.

Conflict & violence

Norway

141 of its 326 stories (43%) were about people being harmed, usually 18%. Reports of refugees ran at more than ten times the usual rate (10 stories). Its coverage was about twice as fearful as the world's.

Health

Fiji

33 of its 113 stories (29%) were about people being harmed, usually 20%. Reports of people killed ran at about twice the usual rate (9 stories). Meningitis was named in 12 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual.

Conflict & violence

Israel

763 of its 1,628 stories (47%) were about people being harmed, usually 41%. Accidents were named in 42 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

Slovakia

Bratislava accounted for 81 of Slovakia's 82 stories about harm, carried by 82 outlets. 80 of Bratislava's 81 stories were about protests or strikes. Fear in its coverage rose to about one and a half times its own usual.

Also named far more than usual: hunger in Iceland (13 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); meningitis in Fiji (12 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); landslides in Egypt (24 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); plane crash in Bangladesh (25 of its stories, about 7 times its usual); respiratory illness in Mexico (30 of its stories, more than ten times its usual).

22 in 100 stories were about harm

usually 22; 22 the day before
24 in 10019 in 10019 Feb26 Feb5 Mar12 Mar20 Mar19 Feb: 22 in 10020 Feb: 21 in 10021 Feb: 23 in 10022 Feb: 22 in 10023 Feb: 22 in 10024 Feb: 24 in 10025 Feb: 23 in 10026 Feb: 22 in 10027 Feb: 22 in 10028 Feb: 21 in 1001 Mar: 21 in 1002 Mar: 23 in 1003 Mar: 24 in 1004 Mar: 22 in 1005 Mar: 19 in 1006 Mar: 21 in 1007 Mar: 20 in 1008 Mar: 20 in 1009 Mar: 20 in 10010 Mar: 23 in 10011 Mar: 23 in 10012 Mar: 23 in 10013 Mar: 22 in 10014 Mar: 22 in 10015 Mar: 21 in 10016 Mar: 22 in 10017 Mar: 22 in 10018 Mar: 23 in 10019 Mar: 22 in 10020 Mar: 22 in 100 · this day

Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 20 Mar. 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 47,315 stories about harm among 217,030 counted on 20 Mar.

Read the day's briefing

Mentions of heavy rain ran more than ten times their usual in Madagascar's news. of the day's 217,030 news stories, 22 in every 100 were about people being harmed, as usual. On 20 March 2017, a year earlier, the share was 19 in every 100, against 22 today. Syria's news was 84% about people being harmed, against a usual 78%.

Written by code from the day's numbers.

Where it happened

feelings in full →
Feelings Events Harm Warmth
Sydney, Australia -- accidents & disasters: 249 stories, carried by 120 outlets; harsh wording in 87 in 100Gaza, Palestine -- attacks & violence: 222 stories, carried by 69 outlets; harsh wording in 99 in 100Nowruz, Iran -- attacks & violence: 65 stories, carried by 58 outlets; harsh wording in 74 in 100Holyhead, UK -- deaths, cause not given: 49 stories, carried by 44 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Islamabad, Pakistan -- attacks & violence: 193 stories, carried by 111 outlets; harsh wording in 77 in 100Mumbai, India -- protests & strikes: 235 stories, carried by 90 outlets; harsh wording in 94 in 100Utoya, Norway -- attacks & violence: 56 stories, carried by 57 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Petersburg, Russia -- protests & strikes: 61 stories, carried by 75 outlets; harsh wording in 93 in 100Beijing, China -- protests & strikes: 148 stories, carried by 121 outlets; harsh wording in 86 in 100Riyadh, Saudi Arabia -- attacks & violence: 191 stories, carried by 192 outlets; harsh wording in 50 in 100Madrid, Spain -- protests & strikes: 126 stories, carried by 103 outlets; harsh wording in 97 in 100Tathra, Australia -- accidents & disasters: 174 stories, carried by 96 outlets; harsh wording in 83 in 100Jerusalem, Israel -- attacks & violence: 326 stories, carried by 153 outlets; harsh wording in 94 in 100Bratislava, Slovakia -- protests & strikes: 81 stories, carried by 82 outlets; harsh wording in 99 in 100Baghdad, Iraq -- attacks & violence: 162 stories, carried by 129 outlets; harsh wording in 98 in 100Tokyo, Japan -- attacks & violence: 230 stories, carried by 182 outlets; harsh wording in 93 in 100Dapchi, Nigeria -- attacks & violence: 199 stories, carried by 139 outlets; harsh wording in 99 in 100Chisinau, Moldova -- attacks & violence: 157 stories, carried by 141 outlets; harsh wording in 99 in 100Badush, Iraq -- attacks & violence: 242 stories, carried by 192 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Afrin, Syria -- attacks & violence: 412 stories, carried by 290 outlets; harsh wording in 96 in 100Paris, France -- attacks & violence: 299 stories, carried by 298 outlets; harsh wording in 95 in 100Ghouta, Syria -- attacks & violence: 657 stories, carried by 411 outlets; harsh wording in 98 in 100Great Mills, US -- attacks & violence: 1,405 stories, carried by 1,207 outlets; harsh wording in 99 in 100San Antonio, US -- attacks & violence: 1,701 stories, carried by 1,414 outlets; harsh wording in 99 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

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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.