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What the world's news said happened to people.
Counts of coverage, not of suffering
25,072 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 Cairo (Egypt), helicopter crash in Nepal and people killed in South Korea. Egypt's coverage was about three times as grief-stricken as the world's. Everywhere we counted, the words were harsher than usual.

Help and hope: reports of peace efforts ran at about one and a half times the usual rate →
Part of lifeRights & justice 29 in 100 of the stories about harm · about as usual Country that rose mostBermuda 88 in 100 of its 157 stories, usually 32
RegionMiddle East & North Africa 57 in 100 of its stories, usually 41
Tone of the words Harsher than usual across the world's stories about harm

What the world's news was about today

how these are picked →
Protests & strikes

Egypt

442 of its 592 stories (75%) were about people being harmed, usually 38%. Cairo accounted for 379 of Egypt's 442 stories about harm, carried by 372 outlets. 356 of Cairo's 379 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of arrests ran at about 9 times the usual rate (279 stories). Its coverage was about three times as grief-stricken as the world's. Warmth in its coverage rose to about one and a half times its own usual.

Disasters & accidents

Nepal

213 of its 372 stories (57%) were about people being harmed, usually 29%. Kathmandu accounted for 143 of Nepal's 213 stories about harm, carried by 149 outlets. Reports of people affected ran at about 6 times the usual rate (78 stories). Helicopter crash was named in 48 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual.

Conflict & violence

South Korea

150 of its 341 stories (44%) were about people being harmed, usually 16%. Reports of people killed ran at about 8 times the usual rate (133 stories). Respiratory illness was named in 18 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual. Its coverage was about one and a half times as grief-stricken as the world's.

Displacement

Netherlands

178 of its 312 stories (57%) were about people being harmed, usually 32%. Amsterdam accounted for 160 of the Netherlands' 178 stories about harm, carried by 180 outlets. Reports of refugees ran at more than ten times the usual rate (138 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as warm as the world's.

6 more places the news pointed at
Protests & strikes

Iraq

465 of its 666 stories (70%) were about people being harmed, usually 58%. Baghdad accounted for 280 of Iraq's 465 stories about harm, carried by 307 outlets. 231 of Baghdad's 280 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of abductions ran at about 7 times the usual rate (69 stories). Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's.

Protests & strikes

Israel

687 of its 1,255 stories (55%) were about people being harmed, usually 47%. 224 of Jerusalem's 262 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of refugees ran at about 5 times the usual rate (198 stories). Landslides were named in 19 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual. Its coverage was about three times as grief-stricken as the world's.

Protests & strikes

Iran

558 of its 888 stories (63%) were about people being harmed, usually 23%. 142 of Tehran's 280 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of people injured ran at more than ten times the usual rate (335 stories). Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's.

Conflict & violence

Syria

973 of its 1,181 stories (82%) were about people being harmed, usually 72%. Idlib accounted for 865 of Syria's 973 stories about harm, carried by 748 outlets. Reports of people killed ran at about twice the usual rate (622 stories). Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's.

Conflict & violence

Colombia

70 of its 114 stories (61%) were about people being harmed, usually 32%. Reports of abductions ran at about 5 times the usual rate (33 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as angry as the world's.

Conflict & violence

Kashmir

202 of its 298 stories (68%) were about people being harmed, usually 49%. Reports of refugees ran at more than ten times the usual rate (16 stories). Its coverage was about twice as fearful as the world's. Anger in its coverage rose to about one and a half times its own usual.

Also named far more than usual: hunger in North Korea (73 of its stories, about 6 times its usual); typhoon in Guam (19 of its stories, about 7 times its usual); accidents in Japan (95 of its stories, about 8 times its usual); flu in Finland (13 of its stories, about 4 times its usual); cholera in Zimbabwe (23 of its stories, more than ten times its usual).

21 in 100 stories were about harm

usually 21; 19 the day before
24 in 10019 in 10010 Aug17 Aug24 Aug31 Aug8 Sep10 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 10021 Aug: 20 in 10022 Aug: 20 in 10023 Aug: 19 in 10024 Aug: 21 in 10025 Aug: 23 in 10026 Aug: 24 in 10027 Aug: 20 in 10028 Aug: 19 in 10029 Aug: 20 in 10030 Aug: 20 in 10031 Aug: 20 in 1001 Sep: 22 in 1002 Sep: 22 in 1003 Sep: 21 in 1004 Sep: 20 in 1005 Sep: 21 in 1006 Sep: 20 in 1007 Sep: 19 in 1008 Sep: 21 in 100 · this day

Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 8 Sep. 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 25,072 stories about harm among 116,798 counted on 8 Sep.

Read the day's briefing

On the side of help, reports of peace efforts ran at about one and a half times the usual rate. Stories about people being harmed made up 21 in every 100 of the day's 116,798 stories, as usual. Mentions of the hunger ran about 6 times their usual in North Korea's news. In Egypt, 75% of the news was about people being harmed, where 38% is usual. On 8 September 2017, a year earlier, the share was 26 in every 100, against 21 today.

Written by code from the day's numbers.

Where it happened

feelings in full →
Feelings Events Harm Warmth
Umm Qasr, Iraq -- protests & strikes: 48 stories, carried by 46 outlets; harsh wording in 98 in 100Waterton Lakes National Park, Canada -- accidents & disasters: 32 stories, carried by 46 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Mahabad, Iran -- protests & strikes: 90 stories, carried by 90 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Gaza, Palestine -- attacks & violence: 104 stories, carried by 61 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Islamabad, Pakistan -- attacks & violence: 137 stories, carried by 101 outlets; harsh wording in 69 in 100Jalisco, Mexico -- protests & strikes: 12 stories, carried by 58 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Bucharest, Romania -- protests & strikes: 57 stories, carried by 58 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Seoul, South Korea -- attacks & violence: 126 stories, carried by 109 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Pyongyang, North Korea -- protests & strikes: 80 stories, carried by 93 outlets; harsh wording in 85 in 100Atsuma, Japan -- accidents & disasters: 107 stories, carried by 91 outlets; harsh wording in 99 in 100Dhaka, Bangladesh -- protests & strikes: 50 stories, carried by 161 outlets; harsh wording in 94 in 100Jerusalem, Israel -- protests & strikes: 262 stories, carried by 111 outlets; harsh wording in 96 in 100South Yorkshire, UK -- attacks & violence: 35 stories, carried by 164 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Pelabuhanratu, Indonesia -- deaths, cause not given: 108 stories, carried by 113 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Gudumbali, Nigeria -- attacks & violence: 149 stories, carried by 149 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Sapporo, Japan -- accidents & disasters: 137 stories, carried by 148 outlets; harsh wording in 98 in 100Amsterdam, Netherlands -- people displaced: 160 stories, carried by 180 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Tehran, Iran -- protests & strikes: 280 stories, carried by 356 outlets; harsh wording in 99 in 100Sanaa, Yemen -- attacks & violence: 255 stories, carried by 244 outlets; harsh wording in 99 in 100Baghdad, Iraq -- protests & strikes: 280 stories, carried by 307 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Cairo, Egypt -- protests & strikes: 379 stories, carried by 372 outlets; harsh wording in 98 in 100Santa Barbara County, US -- accidents & disasters: 129 stories, carried by 383 outlets; harsh wording in 99 in 100Idlib, Syria -- attacks & violence: 865 stories, carried by 748 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Miami, US -- accidents & disasters: 553 stories, carried by 684 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 harsher 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

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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.