← 16 May Thursday 17 May 2018 · to 23:59 UTC 18 May →
What the world's news said happened to people.
Counts of coverage, not of suffering
46,454 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 protests in Conakry (Guinea), people killed in Ethiopia and illness in the Congo River. Ethiopia's coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's. Over the whole world, the tone was much softer than usual.

Help and hope: reports of vaccination ran at about one and a half times the usual rate →
Part of lifeRights & justice 31 in 100 of the stories about harm · about as usual Country that rose mostGuinea 65 in 100 of its 96 stories, usually 21
RegionCentral Asia 20 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

Guinea

62 of its 96 stories (65%) were about people being harmed, usually 21%. 8 of Conakry's 13 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of people affected ran at more than ten times the usual rate (17 stories). Malaria was named in 27 of its stories about harm, about 6 times usual, with haemorrhagic fever.

Conflict & violence

Ethiopia

75 of its 147 stories (51%) were about people being harmed, usually 25%. Reports of people killed ran at about three times the usual rate (57 stories). Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's.

Health

Congo

616 of its 690 stories (89%) were about people being harmed, usually 70%. the Congo River accounted for 248 of Congo's 616 stories about harm, carried by 234 outlets. Reports of people affected ran at about three times the usual rate (218 stories).

Displacement

Colombia

82 of its 163 stories (50%) were about people being harmed, usually 34%. Reports of evacuations ran at more than ten times the usual rate (23 stories). Flooding was named in 50 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual, with heavy rain.

6 more places the news pointed at
Protests & strikes

Venezuela

254 of its 659 stories (39%) were about people being harmed, usually 31%. 175 of Caracas' 197 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of people killed ran at about 4 times the usual rate (91 stories). Flooding was named in 11 of its stories about harm, about 7 times usual.

Protests & strikes

Israel

Jerusalem accounted for 1,638 of Israel's 2,211 stories about harm, carried by 709 outlets. 1,202 of Jerusalem's 1,638 stories were about protests or strikes. Earthquake was named in 60 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual, with wildfires, heatwave and hurricane. Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's. Fear in its coverage rose to about one and a half times its own usual.

Protests & strikes

Burundi

Bujumbura accounted for 105 of Burundi's 148 stories about harm, carried by 184 outlets. 58 of Bujumbura's 105 stories were about protests or strikes. Drownings were named in 86 of its stories about harm, about three times usual. Its coverage was about twice as fearful as the world's.

Protests & strikes

Uzbekistan

35 of its 80 stories (44%) were about people being harmed, usually 14%. 3 of Tashkent's 6 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of people killed ran at about twice the usual rate (6 stories).

Conflict & violence

Central African Republic

66 of its 72 stories (92%) were about people being harmed, usually 78%. Alindao accounted for 43 of the Central African Republic's 66 stories about harm, carried by 45 outlets. Its coverage was about twice as warm as the world's.

Conflict & violence

Poland

135 of its 364 stories (37%) were about people being harmed, usually 28%. Reports of evacuations ran at more than ten times the usual rate (6 stories). Road crashes were named in 22 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual.

Also named far more than usual: drownings in Burundi (86 of its stories, about three times its usual); drownings in France (63 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); road crashes in Poland (22 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); respiratory illness in Sri Lanka (16 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); wildfires in Canada (124 of its stories, about 4 times its usual).

21 in 100 stories were about harm

usually 21; 20 the day before
24 in 10019 in 10018 Apr25 Apr2 May9 May17 May18 Apr: 21 in 10019 Apr: 20 in 10020 Apr: 21 in 10021 Apr: 24 in 10022 Apr: 24 in 10023 Apr: 22 in 10024 Apr: 22 in 10025 Apr: 21 in 10026 Apr: 20 in 10027 Apr: 20 in 10028 Apr: 21 in 10029 Apr: 21 in 10030 Apr: 20 in 1001 May: 19 in 1002 May: 19 in 1003 May: 20 in 1004 May: 20 in 1005 May: 23 in 1006 May: 24 in 1007 May: 22 in 1008 May: 20 in 1009 May: 20 in 10010 May: 21 in 10011 May: 20 in 10012 May: 22 in 10013 May: 24 in 10014 May: 22 in 10015 May: 22 in 10016 May: 20 in 10017 May: 21 in 100 · this day

Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 17 May. 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 46,454 stories about harm among 224,370 counted on 17 May.

Read the day's briefing

In Guinea, 65% of the news was about people being harmed, where 21% is usual. Stories about people being harmed made up 21 in every 100 of the day's 224,370 stories, as usual. Help and hope: reports of vaccination ran at about one and a half times the usual rate. In Burundi's news, mentions of drownings ran about three times their usual. On 17 May 2017, a year earlier, the share was 20 in every 100, against 21 today.

Written by code from the day's numbers.

Where it happened

feelings in full →
Feelings Events Harm Warmth
Paris, France -- attacks & violence: 170 stories, carried by 134 outlets; harsh wording in 86 in 100Hodeida, Yemen -- attacks & violence: 66 stories, carried by 80 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Alindao, Central African Republic -- attacks & violence: 43 stories, carried by 45 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Kabul, Afghanistan -- attacks & violence: 73 stories, carried by 51 outlets; harsh wording in 97 in 100Kiev, Ukraine -- protests & strikes: 74 stories, carried by 87 outlets; harsh wording in 97 in 100Tehran, Iran -- protests & strikes: 110 stories, carried by 84 outlets; harsh wording in 96 in 100Ituango, Colombia -- people displaced: 32 stories, carried by 49 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Manchester, UK -- attacks & violence: 101 stories, carried by 132 outlets; harsh wording in 75 in 100Mandalay, Myanmar -- attacks & violence: 13 stories, carried by 50 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Surabaya, Indonesia -- attacks & violence: 70 stories, carried by 65 outlets; harsh wording in 99 in 100Warsaw, Poland -- attacks & violence: 87 stories, carried by 95 outlets; harsh wording in 94 in 100Managua, Nicaragua -- protests & strikes: 61 stories, carried by 58 outlets; harsh wording in 98 in 100Moscow, Russia -- attacks & violence: 159 stories, carried by 146 outlets; harsh wording in 87 in 100Afrin, Syria -- attacks & violence: 45 stories, carried by 101 outlets; harsh wording in 98 in 100Quetta, Pakistan -- attacks & violence: 124 stories, carried by 94 outlets; harsh wording in 98 in 100Xinjiang, China -- protests & strikes: 168 stories, carried by 146 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Bujumbura, Burundi -- protests & strikes: 105 stories, carried by 184 outlets; harsh wording in 99 in 100Sochi, Russia -- attacks & violence: 51 stories, carried by 124 outlets; harsh wording in 88 in 100Caracas, Venezuela -- protests & strikes: 197 stories, carried by 171 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Seoul, South Korea -- protests & strikes: 195 stories, carried by 319 outlets; harsh wording in 93 in 100Pyongyang, North Korea -- attacks & violence: 187 stories, carried by 224 outlets; harsh wording in 97 in 100Jerusalem, Israel -- protests & strikes: 1,638 stories, carried by 709 outlets; harsh wording in 94 in 100Hawaii County, US -- accidents & disasters: 602 stories, carried by 702 outlets; harsh wording in 99 in 100Hawaiian Volcano Observatory, US -- accidents & disasters: 484 stories, carried by 716 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 much softer than usual. Filled dot: today. Ring: usual.

● Angera little less than usual
● Warmthabout as usual
● Griefa little less 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?

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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.