← 17 Apr Wednesday 18 April 2018 · to 23:59 UTC 19 Apr →
What the world's news said happened to people.
Counts of coverage, not of suffering
49,146 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 Yerevan (Armenia), violence in Yambio and people affected in the Dominican Republic drew the news. South Sudan's coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's. Language across the world's news ran much softer than usual.

Part of lifeRights & justice 28 in 100 of the stories about harm · about as usual Country that rose mostDominican Republic 73 in 100 of its 173 stories, usually 22
RegionCentral Asia 15 in 100 of its stories, usually 12
Tone of the words Much softer than usual across the world's stories about harm

What the world's news was about today

how these are picked →
Protests & strikes

Armenia

341 of its 557 stories (61%) were about people being harmed, usually 26%. Yerevan accounted for 314 of Armenia's 341 stories about harm, carried by 166 outlets. 293 of Yerevan's 314 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of arrests ran at about 10 times the usual rate (150 stories). Volcanic eruption was named in 11 of its stories about harm, about 5 times usual.

Conflict & violence

South Sudan

148 of its 193 stories (77%) were about people being harmed, usually 55%. Yambio accounted for 124 of South Sudan's 148 stories about harm, carried by 145 outlets. Reports of abductions ran at more than ten times the usual rate (117 stories). Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's.

6 more places the news pointed at
Conflict & violence

Afghanistan

174 of its 269 stories (65%) were about people being harmed, usually 59%. Reports of abductions ran at more than ten times the usual rate (14 stories). Bird flu was named in 23 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual, with flu. Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's.

Conflict & violence

Syria

Damascus accounted for 1,024 of Syria's 1,492 stories about harm, carried by 765 outlets. Reports of refugees ran at about twice the usual rate (117 stories). Earthquake was named in 103 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual, with food poisoning. Its coverage was about three times as angry as the world's.

Rights & justice

Réunion

30 of its 45 stories (67%) were about people being harmed, usually 8%. Reports of abductions ran at more than ten times the usual rate (23 stories). Its coverage was about 4 times as fearful as the world's.

Disasters & accidents

Puerto Rico

414 of its 679 stories (61%) were about people being harmed, usually 37%. Reports of people affected ran at about 8 times the usual rate (173 stories). Storms were named in 192 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual.

Conflict & violence

Kuwait

81 of its 167 stories (49%) were about people being harmed, usually 20%. Reports of people killed ran at about 4 times the usual rate (61 stories). Its coverage was about twice as warm as the world's.

Conflict & violence

Niger

45 of its 56 stories (80%) were about people being harmed, usually 63%. Tongo Tongo accounted for 34 of Niger's 45 stories about harm, carried by 54 outlets. Reports of arrests ran at about three times the usual rate (36 stories).

Also named far more than usual: storms in Puerto Rico (192 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); tsunami in Malaysia (93 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); heavy rain in Tanzania (25 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); heavy rain in Morocco (11 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); malaria in Kenya (20 of its stories, about 5 times its usual).

21 in 100 stories were about harm

usually 22; 21 the day before
25 in 10019 in 10020 Mar27 Mar3 Apr10 Apr18 Apr20 Mar: 22 in 10021 Mar: 22 in 10022 Mar: 21 in 10023 Mar: 20 in 10024 Mar: 25 in 10025 Mar: 25 in 10026 Mar: 20 in 10027 Mar: 19 in 10028 Mar: 19 in 10029 Mar: 20 in 10030 Mar: 22 in 10031 Mar: 23 in 1001 Apr: 23 in 1002 Apr: 22 in 1003 Apr: 20 in 1004 Apr: 21 in 1005 Apr: 21 in 1006 Apr: 20 in 1007 Apr: 22 in 1008 Apr: 23 in 1009 Apr: 21 in 10010 Apr: 20 in 10011 Apr: 20 in 10012 Apr: 20 in 10013 Apr: 20 in 10014 Apr: 25 in 10015 Apr: 24 in 10016 Apr: 22 in 10017 Apr: 21 in 10018 Apr: 21 in 100 · this day

Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 18 Apr. 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 49,146 stories about harm among 233,891 counted on 18 Apr.

Read the day's briefing

Puerto Rico's news mentioned storms more than ten times as often as usual. 21 in every 100 of the day's 233,891 news stories were about people being harmed, as usual. For the second day running, the news turned to Armenia. Armenia stood out: 61% of its news was about people being harmed, usually 26%. A year earlier, on 18 April 2017, 20 in every 100 stories were about people being harmed, against 21 today.

Written by code from the day's numbers.

Where it happened

feelings in full →
Feelings Events Harm Warmth
Cairo, Egypt -- attacks & violence: 74 stories, carried by 51 outlets; harsh wording in 96 in 100Great Barrier Reef, Australia -- accidents & disasters: 74 stories, carried by 109 outlets; harsh wording in 69 in 100Quetta, Pakistan -- attacks & violence: 49 stories, carried by 43 outlets; harsh wording in 98 in 100Quebec, Canada -- attacks & violence: 82 stories, carried by 93 outlets; harsh wording in 95 in 100Zihuatanejo, Mexico -- attacks & violence: 48 stories, carried by 38 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Sidhi, India -- accidents & disasters: 42 stories, carried by 42 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Catatumbo, Colombia -- attacks & violence: 46 stories, carried by 46 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Athens, Greece -- people displaced: 81 stories, carried by 71 outlets; harsh wording in 98 in 100Quito, Ecuador -- attacks & violence: 32 stories, carried by 60 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Tongo Tongo, Niger -- attacks & violence: 34 stories, carried by 54 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Zurich, Switzerland -- deaths, cause not given: 94 stories, carried by 92 outlets; harsh wording in 82 in 100Berlin, Germany -- attacks & violence: 274 stories, carried by 179 outlets; harsh wording in 95 in 100Harare, Zimbabwe -- protests & strikes: 137 stories, carried by 95 outlets; harsh wording in 91 in 100Raqqa, Syria -- attacks & violence: 85 stories, carried by 77 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Jerusalem, Israel -- attacks & violence: 260 stories, carried by 133 outlets; harsh wording in 90 in 100Tripoli, Libya -- accidents & disasters: 61 stories, carried by 85 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Pyongyang, North Korea -- attacks & violence: 115 stories, carried by 112 outlets; harsh wording in 90 in 100Ankara, Türkiye -- attacks & violence: 200 stories, carried by 167 outlets; harsh wording in 98 in 100Moscow, Russia -- attacks & violence: 363 stories, carried by 316 outlets; harsh wording in 98 in 100Yambio, South Sudan -- attacks & violence: 124 stories, carried by 145 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Yerevan, Armenia -- protests & strikes: 314 stories, carried by 166 outlets; harsh wording in 97 in 100Wichita, US -- attacks & violence: 171 stories, carried by 315 outlets; harsh wording in 98 in 100Damascus, Syria -- attacks & violence: 1,024 stories, carried by 765 outlets; harsh wording in 98 in 100Philadelphia, US -- accidents & disasters: 3,068 stories, carried by 2,057 outlets; harsh wording in 97 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 softer than usual. Filled dot: today. Ring: usual.

● Angera little less than 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?

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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.