← 16 Aug Friday 17 August 2018 · to 23:59 UTC 18 Aug →
What the world's news said happened to people.
Counts of coverage, not of suffering
39,928 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 Kampala (Uganda), violence in Santiago and abductions in Italy. Sri Lanka's coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's. In the world's news as a whole, the wording was much softer than usual.

Reports of people falling ill ran at about 5 times the usual rate, most often about the US and Congo →
Part of lifeRights & justice 30 in 100 of the stories about harm · about as usual Country that rose mostChile 58 in 100 of its 429 stories, usually 24
RegionSouth Asia 34 in 100 of its stories, usually 27
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

Uganda

199 of its 321 stories (62%) were about people being harmed, usually 32%. Kampala accounted for 149 of Uganda's 199 stories about harm, carried by 128 outlets. 129 of Kampala's 149 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of arrests ran at about twice the usual rate (52 stories). Landslides were named in 89 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual.

Conflict & violence

Chile

249 of its 429 stories (58%) were about people being harmed, usually 24%. Santiago accounted for 244 of Chile's 249 stories about harm, carried by 409 outlets. Reports of people injured ran at more than ten times the usual rate (67 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as angry as the world's.

Disasters & accidents

Italy

812 of its 1,489 stories (55%) were about people being harmed, usually 32%. Reports of abductions ran at about 8 times the usual rate (9 stories). Accidents were named in 226 of its stories about harm, about 5 times usual. Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's.

Rights & justice

Sri Lanka

110 of its 333 stories (33%) were about people being harmed, usually 20%. Reports of abductions ran at more than ten times the usual rate (19 stories). Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's.

6 more places the news pointed at
Protests & strikes

Romania

89 of its 327 stories (27%) were about people being harmed, usually 16%. 68 of Bucharest's 72 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of people injured ran at about 4 times the usual rate (63 stories). Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's. Warmth in its coverage rose to about one and a half times its own usual.

Protests & strikes

China

876 of its 4,584 stories (19%) were about people being harmed, usually 13%. 100 of Beijing's 173 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of evacuations ran at about 10 times the usual rate (57 stories). Chickenpox was named in 20 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual.

Conflict & violence

Bosnia

71 of its 84 stories (85%) were about people being harmed, usually 50%. Srebrenica accounted for 66 of Bosnia's 71 stories about harm, carried by 64 outlets. Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's.

Conflict & violence

Iraq

209 of its 281 stories (74%) were about people being harmed, usually 52%. Reports of refugees ran at about three times the usual rate (37 stories). Its coverage was about three times as grief-stricken as the world's.

Protests & strikes

Morocco

55 of its 138 stories (40%) were about people being harmed, usually 16%. 47 of Rabat's 50 stories were about protests or strikes. Its coverage was about one and a half times as fearful as the world's.

Shelter & services

North Korea

74 of its 186 stories (40%) were about people being harmed, usually 26%. Reports of people killed ran at about twice the usual rate (58 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as grief-stricken as the world's. Fear in its coverage rose to about one and a half times its own usual.

Also named far more than usual: landslides in India (563 of its stories, about 5 times its usual); heatstroke in Colombia (24 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); road crashes in Palestine (83 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); power cuts in Libya (12 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); hurricane in Ireland (35 of its stories, more than ten times its usual).

21 in 100 stories were about harm

usually 20; 21 the day before
24 in 10017 in 10019 Jul26 Jul2 Aug9 Aug17 Aug19 Jul: 17 in 10020 Jul: 19 in 10021 Jul: 19 in 10022 Jul: 21 in 10023 Jul: 20 in 10024 Jul: 20 in 10025 Jul: 19 in 10026 Jul: 18 in 10027 Jul: 18 in 10028 Jul: 21 in 10029 Jul: 23 in 10030 Jul: 19 in 10031 Jul: 19 in 1001 Aug: 18 in 1002 Aug: 18 in 1003 Aug: 18 in 1004 Aug: 20 in 1005 Aug: 23 in 1006 Aug: 23 in 1007 Aug: 21 in 1008 Aug: 20 in 1009 Aug: 21 in 10010 Aug: 21 in 10011 Aug: 24 in 10012 Aug: 24 in 10013 Aug: 21 in 10014 Aug: 22 in 10015 Aug: 21 in 10016 Aug: 21 in 10017 Aug: 21 in 100 · this day

Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 17 Aug. 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 39,928 stories about harm among 188,488 counted on 17 Aug.

Read the day's briefing

People falling ill were reported at about 5 times the usual rate, most often about the US and Congo. of the day's 188,488 news stories, 21 in every 100 were about people being harmed, as usual. Uganda's news mentioned landslides more than ten times as often as usual. Uganda's news was 62% about people being harmed, against a usual 32%. On 17 August 2017, a year earlier, the share was 25 in every 100, against 21 today.

Written by code from the day's numbers.

Where it happened

feelings in full →
Feelings Events Harm Warmth
Bucharest, Romania -- protests & strikes: 72 stories, carried by 69 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Ulladulla, Australia -- accidents & disasters: 66 stories, carried by 80 outlets; harsh wording in 95 in 100Idlib, Syria -- attacks & violence: 93 stories, carried by 85 outlets; harsh wording in 97 in 100Beijing, China -- protests & strikes: 173 stories, carried by 141 outlets; harsh wording in 92 in 100Milan, Italy -- accidents & disasters: 59 stories, carried by 102 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Karachi, Pakistan -- attacks & violence: 104 stories, carried by 100 outlets; harsh wording in 97 in 100Linstow, Germany -- accidents & disasters: 37 stories, carried by 95 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Jerusalem, Israel -- protests & strikes: 264 stories, carried by 193 outlets; harsh wording in 97 in 100Bamako, Mali -- attacks & violence: 118 stories, carried by 110 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Kampala, Uganda -- protests & strikes: 149 stories, carried by 128 outlets; harsh wording in 98 in 100Islamabad, Pakistan -- attacks & violence: 229 stories, carried by 250 outlets; harsh wording in 88 in 100Aung Hlaing, Myanmar -- protests & strikes: 18 stories, carried by 124 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Tehran, Iran -- attacks & violence: 153 stories, carried by 165 outlets; harsh wording in 93 in 100Raqqa, Syria -- attacks & violence: 177 stories, carried by 162 outlets; harsh wording in 97 in 100Kabul, Afghanistan -- attacks & violence: 112 stories, carried by 182 outlets; harsh wording in 99 in 100Kerala, India -- accidents & disasters: 203 stories, carried by 206 outlets; harsh wording in 87 in 100Manila, Philippines -- accidents & disasters: 232 stories, carried by 232 outlets; harsh wording in 97 in 100Barcelona, Spain -- attacks & violence: 170 stories, carried by 194 outlets; harsh wording in 99 in 100Ernakulam, India -- accidents & disasters: 320 stories, carried by 218 outlets; harsh wording in 89 in 100Fort Lauderdale, US -- attacks & violence: 327 stories, carried by 332 outlets; harsh wording in 94 in 100Santiago, Chile -- attacks & violence: 244 stories, carried by 409 outlets; harsh wording in 99 in 100Washington, US -- attacks & violence: 2,050 stories, carried by 1,664 outlets; harsh wording in 63 in 100Ghazni, Afghanistan -- attacks & violence: 334 stories, carried by 385 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Genoa, Italy -- accidents & disasters: 496 stories, carried by 462 outlets; harsh wording in 100 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.

● 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.