← 19 May Sunday 20 May 2018 · to 23:59 UTC 21 May →
What the world's news said happened to people.
Counts of coverage, not of suffering
22,331 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 Jerusalem (Israel), a disaster in Havana and storms in Sri Lanka drew the news. Sri Lanka's coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's. Across the world, the tone of the words was about as usual.

Reports of evacuations ran at about three times the usual rate, most often about the US and Canada →
Part of lifeRights & justice 26 in 100 of the stories about harm · less than usual Country that rose mostCuba 85 in 100 of its 818 stories, usually 39
RegionLatin America & Caribbean 42 in 100 of its stories, usually 27
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

Israel

1,069 of its 1,499 stories (71%) were about people being harmed, usually 57%. Jerusalem accounted for 688 of Israel's 1,069 stories about harm, carried by 214 outlets. 430 of Jerusalem's 688 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of arrests ran at about three times the usual rate (137 stories). Natural hazards were named in 99 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual. Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's.

Disasters & accidents

Cuba

695 of its 818 stories (85%) were about people being harmed, usually 39%. Havana accounted for 665 of Cuba's 695 stories about harm, carried by 741 outlets. Reports of people killed ran at about three times the usual rate (670 stories). Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's.

Conflict & violence

Sri Lanka

140 of its 254 stories (55%) were about people being harmed, usually 26%. Reports of evacuations ran at more than ten times the usual rate (14 stories). Storms were named in 20 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual, with landslides. Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's.

6 more places the news pointed at
Disasters & accidents

Brazil

153 of its 250 stories (61%) were about people being harmed, usually 19%. Maranhao accounted for 91 of Brazil's 153 stories about harm, carried by 102 outlets. Reports of people affected ran at about 9 times the usual rate (101 stories). Drought was named in 10 of its stories about harm, about 8 times usual.

Conflict & violence

Syria

568 of its 649 stories (88%) were about people being harmed, usually 68%. Damascus accounted for 284 of Syria's 568 stories about harm, carried by 225 outlets. Outbreaks were named in 177 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual. Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's.

Protests & strikes

Colombia

40 of its 83 stories (48%) were about people being harmed, usually 33%. 19 of Bogota's 22 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of arrests ran at about three times the usual rate (25 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as warm as the world's.

Conflict & violence

Greece

91 of its 219 stories (42%) were about people being harmed, usually 23%. Reports of people injured ran at about three times the usual rate (19 stories). Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's.

Conflict & violence

Sudan

66 of its 93 stories (71%) were about people being harmed, usually 53%. Khartoum accounted for 44 of Sudan's 66 stories about harm, carried by 64 outlets. Its coverage was about 4 times as fearful as the world's.

Protests & strikes

Madagascar

24 of its 28 stories (86%) were about people being harmed, usually 55%. 19 of Antananarivo's 23 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of abductions ran at more than ten times the usual rate (22 stories).

Also named far more than usual: avalanche in Nepal (42 of its stories, about 9 times its usual); outbreaks in Syria (177 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); extreme cold in Argentina (16 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); earthquake in Italy (18 of its stories, about 6 times its usual); cyclone in Somalia (12 of its stories, more than ten times its usual).

23 in 100 stories were about harm

usually 21; 23 the day before
24 in 10019 in 10021 Apr28 Apr5 May12 May20 May21 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 10020 May: 23 in 100 · this day

Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 20 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 22,331 stories about harm among 98,959 counted on 20 May.

Read the day's briefing

Reports of evacuations ran at about three times the usual rate, most often about the US and Canada. Stories about people being harmed made up 23 in every 100 of the day's 98,959 stories, above the usual 21. Mentions of the avalanche ran about 9 times their usual in Nepal's news. On 20 May 2017, a year earlier, the share was 22 in every 100, against 23 today. Israel stood out: 71% of its news was about people being harmed, usually 57%. This week the news turned most often to Israel, on 4 of 7 days; help rose on 4 of them.

Written by code from the day's numbers.

Where it happened

feelings in full →
Feelings Events Harm Warmth
Mumbai, India -- attacks & violence: 109 stories, carried by 49 outlets; harsh wording in 92 in 100Ghazni, Afghanistan -- attacks & violence: 29 stories, carried by 18 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Antananarivo, Madagascar -- protests & strikes: 23 stories, carried by 22 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Bogota, Colombia -- protests & strikes: 22 stories, carried by 22 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Abuja, Nigeria -- protests & strikes: 50 stories, carried by 44 outlets; harsh wording in 84 in 100Pyongyang, North Korea -- protests & strikes: 31 stories, carried by 27 outlets; harsh wording in 97 in 100Shifa, Israel -- attacks & violence: 18 stories, carried by 23 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Okanagan, Canada -- accidents & disasters: 19 stories, carried by 33 outlets; harsh wording in 84 in 100Colombo, Sri Lanka -- attacks & violence: 68 stories, carried by 51 outlets; harsh wording in 96 in 100Kathmandu, Nepal -- accidents & disasters: 43 stories, carried by 45 outlets; harsh wording in 84 in 100Grand Forks, Canada -- people displaced: 26 stories, carried by 63 outlets; harsh wording in 96 in 100Cairo, Egypt -- attacks & violence: 62 stories, carried by 55 outlets; harsh wording in 95 in 100Edinburgh, UK -- accidents & disasters: 42 stories, carried by 121 outlets; harsh wording in 67 in 100Tehran, Iran -- attacks & violence: 85 stories, carried by 75 outlets; harsh wording in 99 in 100Khartoum, Sudan -- attacks & violence: 44 stories, carried by 64 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Karachi, Pakistan -- attacks & violence: 124 stories, carried by 220 outlets; harsh wording in 96 in 100Buenos Aires, Argentina -- attacks & violence: 23 stories, carried by 123 outlets; harsh wording in 96 in 100Maranhao, Brazil -- accidents & disasters: 91 stories, carried by 102 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Jerusalem, Israel -- protests & strikes: 688 stories, carried by 214 outlets; harsh wording in 97 in 100Chhattisgarh, India -- attacks & violence: 148 stories, carried by 152 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Damascus, Syria -- attacks & violence: 284 stories, carried by 225 outlets; harsh wording in 99 in 100Houston, US -- attacks & violence: 1,057 stories, carried by 1,134 outlets; harsh wording in 98 in 100Havana, Cuba -- accidents & disasters: 665 stories, carried by 741 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Pahoa, US -- accidents & disasters: 673 stories, carried by 885 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?

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.