← 19 Aug Monday 20 August 2018 · to 23:59 UTC 21 Aug →
What the world's news said happened to people.
Counts of coverage, not of suffering
37,143 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 Kampala (Uganda), people killed in Spain and the hypothermia in Italy drew the news. Spain's coverage was about three times as angry as the world's. Worldwide, the words used were about as usual.

Reports of people displaced ran at about twice the usual rate, most often about Indonesia and India →
Part of lifeRights & justice 28 in 100 of the stories about harm · about as usual Country that rose mostThailand 49 in 100 of its 577 stories, usually 18
RegionSouth Asia 36 in 100 of its stories, usually 28
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

Uganda

297 of its 449 stories (66%) were about people being harmed, usually 36%. Kampala accounted for 227 of Uganda's 297 stories about harm, carried by 192 outlets. 184 of Kampala's 227 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of people injured ran at about 9 times the usual rate (70 stories). Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's.

Conflict & violence

Spain

486 of its 1,134 stories (43%) were about people being harmed, usually 18%. Reports of people killed ran at about 4 times the usual rate (375 stories). Road crashes were named in 16 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual. Its coverage was about three times as angry as the world's.

Disasters & accidents

Italy

809 of its 1,412 stories (57%) were about people being harmed, usually 35%. Reports of evacuations ran at about 6 times the usual rate (182 stories). Hypothermia was named in 84 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual, with respiratory illness. Warmth in its coverage rose to about one and a half times its own usual.

Rights & justice

Thailand

284 of its 577 stories (49%) were about people being harmed, usually 18%. Reports of arrests ran at about 8 times the usual rate (153 stories). Flu was named in 64 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual.

6 more places the news pointed at
Protests & strikes

Poland

198 of its 412 stories (48%) were about people being harmed, usually 19%. Warsaw accounted for 170 of Poland's 198 stories about harm, carried by 153 outlets. 160 of Warsaw's 170 stories were about protests or strikes. Its coverage was about one and a half times as warm as the world's.

Protests & strikes

South Korea

437 of its 1,106 stories (40%) were about people being harmed, usually 19%. 163 of Seoul's 227 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of people injured ran at more than ten times the usual rate (171 stories). Volcanic eruption was named in 153 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual.

Protests & strikes

Myanmar

124 of its 160 stories (78%) were about people being harmed, usually 59%. Yangon accounted for 104 of Myanmar's 124 stories about harm, carried by 108 outlets. 77 of Yangon's 104 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of arrests ran at about 6 times the usual rate (95 stories).

Protests & strikes

Cambodia

215 of its 298 stories (72%) were about people being harmed, usually 46%. 58 of Boeng Kak's 60 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of arrests ran at about 5 times the usual rate (153 stories).

Conflict & violence

Sudan

186 of its 222 stories (84%) were about people being harmed, usually 63%. Reports of people displaced ran at about 5 times the usual rate (157 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as warm as the world's. Anger in its coverage rose to about one and a half times its own usual.

Conflict & violence

El Salvador

22 of its 28 stories (79%) were about people being harmed, usually 35%. Reports of people killed ran at about 5 times the usual rate (20 stories). Its coverage was about twice as fearful as the world's.

Also named far more than usual: volcanic eruption in South Korea (153 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); helicopter crash in Iraq (61 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); typhoon in Vietnam (22 of its stories, about 6 times its usual); typhoon in Guam (15 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); earthquake in Japan (31 of its stories, about three times its usual).

21 in 100 stories were about harm

usually 21; 23 the day before
24 in 10018 in 10022 Jul29 Jul5 Aug12 Aug20 Aug22 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 10018 Aug: 23 in 10019 Aug: 23 in 10020 Aug: 21 in 100 · this day

Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 20 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 37,143 stories about harm among 176,586 counted on 20 Aug.

Read the day's briefing

Mentions of volcanic eruption ran more than ten times their usual in South Korea's news. of the day's 176,586 news stories, 21 in every 100 were about people being harmed, as usual. Reports of people displaced ran at about twice the usual rate, most often about Indonesia and India. It was the second day running that the news turned to Uganda. A year earlier, on 20 August 2017, 28 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
Yangon, Myanmar -- protests & strikes: 104 stories, carried by 108 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Wonsan, South Korea -- accidents & disasters: 153 stories, carried by 101 outlets; harsh wording in 90 in 100Moscow, Russia -- attacks & violence: 199 stories, carried by 147 outlets; harsh wording in 97 in 100Tehran, Iran -- attacks & violence: 152 stories, carried by 166 outlets; harsh wording in 95 in 100Kerala, India -- accidents & disasters: 297 stories, carried by 168 outlets; harsh wording in 80 in 100Istanbul, Türkiye -- attacks & violence: 106 stories, carried by 145 outlets; harsh wording in 96 in 100Mecca, Saudi Arabia -- accidents & disasters: 244 stories, carried by 251 outlets; harsh wording in 93 in 100Mount Rinjani, Indonesia -- accidents & disasters: 118 stories, carried by 137 outlets; harsh wording in 98 in 100Bamako, Mali -- attacks & violence: 135 stories, carried by 145 outlets; harsh wording in 97 in 100Warsaw, Poland -- protests & strikes: 170 stories, carried by 153 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Kampala, Uganda -- protests & strikes: 227 stories, carried by 192 outlets; harsh wording in 99 in 100Kunduz, Afghanistan -- attacks & violence: 119 stories, carried by 166 outlets; harsh wording in 99 in 100Alappuzha, India -- accidents & disasters: 209 stories, carried by 194 outlets; harsh wording in 95 in 100Pyongyang, North Korea -- attacks & violence: 116 stories, carried by 211 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Ankara, Türkiye -- attacks & violence: 293 stories, carried by 253 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Milan, Italy -- accidents & disasters: 186 stories, carried by 240 outlets; harsh wording in 99 in 100Caracas, Venezuela -- protests & strikes: 242 stories, carried by 251 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Seoul, South Korea -- protests & strikes: 227 stories, carried by 308 outlets; harsh wording in 97 in 100Lake Mcdonald, US -- accidents & disasters: 216 stories, carried by 267 outlets; harsh wording in 98 in 100Raganello, Italy -- accidents & disasters: 188 stories, carried by 292 outlets; harsh wording in 98 in 100California, US -- protests & strikes: 533 stories, carried by 552 outlets; harsh wording in 96 in 100Rinjani, Indonesia -- accidents & disasters: 236 stories, carried by 320 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Barcelona, Spain -- attacks & violence: 378 stories, carried by 483 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Kabul, Afghanistan -- attacks & violence: 478 stories, carried by 617 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 about as usual. Filled dot: today. Ring: usual.

● Angerabout as 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?

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.