← 18 May Saturday 19 May 2018 · to 23:59 UTC 20 May →
What the world's news said happened to people.
Counts of coverage, not of suffering
27,201 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 protests in Riyadh (Saudi Arabia), a disaster in Havana and people falling ill in Pakistan. Congo's coverage was about three times as fearful as the world's. Everywhere we counted, the words were about as usual.

Part of lifeRights & justice 28 in 100 of the stories about harm · less than usual Country that rose mostCuba 85 in 100 of its 1,570 stories, usually 23
RegionLatin America & Caribbean 50 in 100 of its stories, usually 26
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

Saudi Arabia

293 of its 423 stories (69%) were about people being harmed, usually 25%. Riyadh accounted for 174 of Saudi Arabia's 293 stories about harm, carried by 219 outlets. 108 of Riyadh's 174 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of arrests ran at more than ten times the usual rate (246 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as fearful as the world's.

Disasters & accidents

Cuba

1,339 of its 1,570 stories (85%) were about people being harmed, usually 23%. Havana accounted for 1,248 of Cuba's 1,339 stories about harm, carried by 1,202 outlets. Reports of people injured ran at more than ten times the usual rate (580 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as grief-stricken as the world's.

Conflict & violence

Pakistan

546 of its 1,285 stories (42%) were about people being harmed, usually 35%. Reports of people falling ill ran at more than ten times the usual rate (10 stories). Malaria was named in 10 of its stories about harm, about 8 times usual. Its coverage was about one and a half times as angry as the world's.

6 more places the news pointed at
Protests & strikes

Israel

1,471 of its 1,967 stories (75%) were about people being harmed, usually 56%. Jerusalem accounted for 856 of Israel's 1,471 stories about harm, carried by 489 outlets. 548 of Jerusalem's 856 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of arrests ran at about twice the usual rate (164 stories). Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's.

Protests & strikes

Russia

364 of its 1,221 stories (30%) were about people being harmed, usually 17%. 130 of Moscow's 245 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of abductions ran at about 7 times the usual rate (20 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as angry as the world's.

Conflict & violence

Palestine

268 of its 464 stories (58%) were about people being harmed, usually 51%. Gaza accounted for 155 of Palestine's 268 stories about harm, carried by 47 outlets. Power cuts were named in 41 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual. Its coverage was about one and a half times as warm as the world's.

Protests & strikes

Egypt

88 of its 199 stories (44%) were about people being harmed, usually 27%. 45 of Cairo's 56 stories were about protests or strikes. Train derailment was named in 15 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual.

Conflict & violence

Sri Lanka

113 of its 286 stories (40%) were about people being harmed, usually 26%. Reports of people injured ran at about 7 times the usual rate (30 stories). Its coverage was about three times as grief-stricken as the world's. Anger in its coverage rose to about twice its own usual.

Protests & strikes

United Arab Emirates

59 of its 255 stories (23%) were about people being harmed, usually 9%. 53 of Dubai's 57 stories were about protests or strikes. Its coverage was about one and a half times as fearful as the world's.

Also named far more than usual: cyclone in Yemen (33 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); hiv in Botswana (19 of its stories, about 5 times its usual); poisoning in Armenia (17 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); power cuts in Puerto Rico (15 of its stories, about 4 times its usual); cyclone in Somalia (13 of its stories, more than ten times its usual).

23 in 100 stories were about harm

usually 21; 22 the day before
24 in 10019 in 10020 Apr27 Apr4 May11 May19 May20 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 10018 May: 22 in 10019 May: 23 in 100 · this day

Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 19 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 27,201 stories about harm among 119,715 counted on 19 May.

Read the day's briefing

Saudi Arabia's news was 69% about people being harmed, against a usual 25%. of the day's 119,715 news stories, 23 in every 100 were about people being harmed, above the usual 21. On 19 May 2017, a year earlier, the share was 21 in every 100, against 23 today.

Written by code from the day's numbers.

Where it happened

feelings in full →
Feelings Events Harm Warmth
Berkshire, UK -- accidents & disasters: 59 stories, carried by 166 outlets; harsh wording in 17 in 100Tehran, Iran -- attacks & violence: 53 stories, carried by 44 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Sausalito, Mexico -- accidents & disasters: 23 stories, carried by 23 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Damascus, Syria -- attacks & violence: 53 stories, carried by 36 outlets; harsh wording in 98 in 100Gaza, Palestine -- attacks & violence: 155 stories, carried by 47 outlets; harsh wording in 99 in 100Jalalabad, Afghanistan -- attacks & violence: 42 stories, carried by 29 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Idlib, Syria -- attacks & violence: 50 stories, carried by 37 outlets; harsh wording in 88 in 100Colombo, Sri Lanka -- attacks & violence: 51 stories, carried by 46 outlets; harsh wording in 78 in 100Sanaa, Yemen -- accidents & disasters: 29 stories, carried by 30 outlets; harsh wording in 97 in 100Jose Marti, Cuba -- accidents & disasters: 57 stories, carried by 51 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Indus River, Pakistan -- protests & strikes: 18 stories, carried by 29 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Caracas, Venezuela -- protests & strikes: 98 stories, carried by 70 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Cairo, Egypt -- protests & strikes: 56 stories, carried by 51 outlets; harsh wording in 98 in 100Karachi, Pakistan -- deaths, cause not given: 138 stories, carried by 111 outlets; harsh wording in 95 in 100Dubai, United Arab Emirates -- protests & strikes: 57 stories, carried by 55 outlets; harsh wording in 96 in 100French Riviera, France -- protests & strikes: 75 stories, carried by 81 outlets; harsh wording in 89 in 100London, UK -- accidents & disasters: 330 stories, carried by 371 outlets; harsh wording in 44 in 100Baghdad, Iraq -- attacks & violence: 66 stories, carried by 77 outlets; harsh wording in 97 in 100Riyadh, Saudi Arabia -- protests & strikes: 174 stories, carried by 219 outlets; harsh wording in 98 in 100Moscow, Russia -- protests & strikes: 245 stories, carried by 289 outlets; harsh wording in 96 in 100Jerusalem, Israel -- protests & strikes: 856 stories, carried by 489 outlets; harsh wording in 97 in 100Houston, US -- attacks & violence: 1,734 stories, carried by 1,270 outlets; harsh wording in 98 in 100Hawaii County, US -- accidents & disasters: 568 stories, carried by 714 outlets; harsh wording in 95 in 100Havana, Cuba -- accidents & disasters: 1,248 stories, carried by 1,202 outlets; harsh wording in 98 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?

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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.