← 20 Mar Wednesday 21 March 2018 · to 23:59 UTC 22 Mar →
What the world's news said happened to people.
Counts of coverage, not of suffering
48,781 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 →

Protests in Bujumbura (Burundi), violence in Kabul and illness in Copenhagen drew the news. Afghanistan's coverage was about 4 times as grief-stricken as the world's. Language across the world's news ran about as usual.

Part of lifeConflict & violence 28 in 100 of the stories about harm · much more than usual Country that rose mostGuinea 93 in 100 of its 141 stories, usually 43
RegionSub-Saharan Africa 34 in 100 of its stories, usually 30
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 →
Protests & strikes

Burundi

51 of its 66 stories (77%) were about people being harmed, usually 63%. Bujumbura accounted for 40 of Burundi's 51 stories about harm, carried by 42 outlets. 39 of Bujumbura's 40 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of arrests ran at about 5 times the usual rate (44 stories). Malaria was named in 46 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual. Anger in its coverage rose to about one and a half times its own usual.

Conflict & violence

Afghanistan

785 of its 920 stories (85%) were about people being harmed, usually 60%. Kabul accounted for 707 of Afghanistan's 785 stories about harm, carried by 467 outlets. Reports of people injured ran at about three times the usual rate (629 stories). Its coverage was about 4 times as grief-stricken as the world's.

Health

Denmark

116 of its 255 stories (45%) were about people being harmed, usually 27%. Copenhagen accounted for 95 of Denmark's 116 stories about harm, carried by 65 outlets. Reports of people affected ran at about three times the usual rate (32 stories). Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's.

Disasters & accidents

Malaysia

277 of its 970 stories (29%) were about people being harmed, usually 18%. Reports of evacuations ran at about 6 times the usual rate (7 stories). Drownings were named in 26 of its stories about harm, about 6 times usual. Its coverage was about one and a half times as warm as the world's.

6 more places the news pointed at
Conflict & violence

Ecuador

46 of its 66 stories (70%) were about people being harmed, usually 33%. Quito accounted for 40 of Ecuador's 46 stories about harm, carried by 44 outlets. Reports of people killed ran at about twice the usual rate (40 stories). Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's.

Conflict & violence

Jordan

132 of its 332 stories (40%) were about people being harmed, usually 19%. Reports of people injured ran at about three times the usual rate (11 stories). Respiratory illness was named in 10 of its stories about harm, about 7 times usual. Its coverage was about one and a half times as warm as the world's.

Protests & strikes

Gambia

56 of its 151 stories (37%) were about people being harmed, usually 23%. 43 of Sandeng's 51 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of arrests ran at about twice the usual rate (42 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.

Conflict & violence

Iraq

451 of its 670 stories (67%) were about people being harmed, usually 56%. Reports of arrests ran at about three times the usual rate (110 stories). Poisoning was named in 15 of its stories about harm, about 7 times usual. Its coverage was about twice as fearful as the world's.

Protests & strikes

South Africa

329 of its 921 stories (36%) were about people being harmed, usually 25%. 36 of Sharpeville's 64 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of people injured ran at about 4 times the usual rate (37 stories). Meningitis was named in 27 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual.

Health

Guinea

131 of its 141 stories (93%) were about people being harmed, usually 43%. Reports of people affected ran at about 9 times the usual rate (102 stories). Polio was named in 101 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual, with hunger.

Also named far more than usual: polio in Guinea (101 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); snowstorms in Jersey (68 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); poisoning in Belize (13 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); volcanic eruption in Vanuatu (10 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); bird flu in Poland (17 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 10020 Feb27 Feb6 Mar13 Mar21 Mar20 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 10021 Mar: 22 in 100 · this day

Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 21 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 48,781 stories about harm among 221,017 counted on 21 Mar.

Read the day's briefing

In Guinea's news, mentions of the polio ran more than ten times their usual. Stories about people being harmed made up 22 in every 100 of the day's 221,017 stories, as usual. A year earlier, on 21 March 2017, 20 in every 100 stories were about people being harmed, against 22 today. In Burundi, 77% of the news was about people being harmed, where 63% is usual.

Written by code from the day's numbers.

Where it happened

feelings in full →
Feelings Events Harm Warmth
Kupwara, Kashmir -- attacks & violence: 61 stories, carried by 40 outlets; harsh wording in 98 in 100Tehran, Iran -- attacks & violence: 71 stories, carried by 43 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Barcelona, Spain -- protests & strikes: 85 stories, carried by 60 outlets; harsh wording in 98 in 100Quito, Ecuador -- attacks & violence: 40 stories, carried by 44 outlets; harsh wording in 98 in 100Bujumbura, Burundi -- protests & strikes: 40 stories, carried by 42 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Bratislava, Slovakia -- deaths, cause not given: 54 stories, carried by 58 outlets; harsh wording in 98 in 100Tathra, Australia -- accidents & disasters: 87 stories, carried by 63 outlets; harsh wording in 77 in 100Madrid, Spain -- protests & strikes: 78 stories, carried by 75 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Sandeng, Gambia -- protests & strikes: 51 stories, carried by 61 outlets; harsh wording in 96 in 100Badush, Iraq -- attacks & violence: 50 stories, carried by 93 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Rio de Janeiro, Brazil -- protests & strikes: 79 stories, carried by 73 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Saxony, Germany -- attacks & violence: 60 stories, carried by 64 outlets; harsh wording in 98 in 100Manila, Philippines -- accidents & disasters: 167 stories, carried by 134 outlets; harsh wording in 96 in 100Omsk, Russia -- protests & strikes: 80 stories, carried by 82 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Afrin, Syria -- attacks & violence: 150 stories, carried by 97 outlets; harsh wording in 95 in 100Amman, Jordan -- attacks & violence: 83 stories, carried by 100 outlets; harsh wording in 96 in 100Paris, France -- attacks & violence: 245 stories, carried by 195 outlets; harsh wording in 87 in 100Mogadishu, Somalia -- attacks & violence: 44 stories, carried by 129 outlets; harsh wording in 91 in 100Tel Aviv, Israel -- attacks & violence: 140 stories, carried by 150 outlets; harsh wording in 97 in 100Ghouta, Syria -- attacks & violence: 470 stories, carried by 368 outlets; harsh wording in 99 in 100Dapchi, Nigeria -- attacks & violence: 935 stories, carried by 607 outlets; harsh wording in 93 in 100Kabul, Afghanistan -- attacks & violence: 707 stories, carried by 467 outlets; harsh wording in 96 in 100Pflugerville, US -- attacks & violence: 1,520 stories, carried by 1,276 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100San Antonio, US -- attacks & violence: 2,414 stories, carried by 1,573 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

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.