← 14 Sep Saturday 15 September 2018 · to 23:59 UTC 16 Sep →
What the world's news said happened to people.
Counts of coverage, not of suffering
30,507 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 news turned to violence in Kigali, deaths in Vienna and a disaster in Bern. Austria's coverage was about one and a half times as fearful as the world's. Everywhere we counted, the words were harsher than usual.

Reports of evacuations ran at about 4 times the usual rate, most often about the US and the Philippines → Reports of people displaced ran at about three times the usual rate, most often about the Philippines and the US → Reports of abductions ran at about twice the usual rate, most often about the US and India → Help and hope: reports of volunteers ran at about three times the usual rate →
Part of lifeDisasters & accidents 38 in 100 of the stories about harm · much more than usual Country that rose mostPhilippines 83 in 100 of its 1,932 stories, usually 34
RegionSoutheast Asia 58 in 100 of its stories, usually 30
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 →
Conflict & violence

Rwanda

276 of its 301 stories (92%) were about people being harmed, usually 40%. Kigali accounted for 193 of Rwanda's 276 stories about harm, carried by 264 outlets. Reports of arrests ran at more than ten times the usual rate (197 stories). Fear in its coverage rose to about one and a half times its own usual.

Deaths & injuries, cause not given

Austria

115 of its 192 stories (60%) were about people being harmed, usually 19%. Vienna accounted for 109 of Austria's 115 stories about harm, carried by 173 outlets. Reports of people injured ran at more than ten times the usual rate (89 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as fearful as the world's.

Disasters & accidents

Switzerland

218 of its 388 stories (56%) were about people being harmed, usually 25%. Bern accounted for 192 of Switzerland's 218 stories about harm, carried by 361 outlets. Reports of evacuations ran at about 9 times the usual rate (13 stories). Poisoning was named in 19 of its stories about harm, about 4 times usual.

Protests & strikes

Türkiye

217 of its 419 stories (52%) were about people being harmed, usually 30%. 149 of Istanbul's 151 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of people injured ran at about 5 times the usual rate (27 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as warm as the world's.

6 more places the news pointed at
Conflict & violence

Burkina Faso

101 of its 106 stories (95%) were about people being harmed, usually 61%. Kompienga accounted for 90 of Burkina Faso's 101 stories about harm, carried by 108 outlets. Reports of people injured ran at about three times the usual rate (23 stories). Its coverage was about three times as angry as the world's.

Protests & strikes

Israel

748 of its 1,156 stories (65%) were about people being harmed, usually 45%. 215 of Jerusalem's 384 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of people displaced ran at about 5 times the usual rate (75 stories). Poisoning was named in 83 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual.

Disasters & accidents

Philippines

1,597 of its 1,932 stories (83%) were about people being harmed, usually 34%. Reports of evacuations ran at more than ten times the usual rate (259 stories). Storm surge was named in 632 of its stories about harm, about 5 times usual, with cyclone and volcanic eruption.

Conflict & violence

Ethiopia

250 of its 285 stories (88%) were about people being harmed, usually 41%. Addis Ababa accounted for 199 of Ethiopia's 250 stories about harm, carried by 152 outlets. Its coverage was about one and a half times as fearful as the world's.

Conflict & violence

Mexico

349 of its 757 stories (46%) were about people being harmed, usually 20%. Reports of people injured ran at more than ten times the usual rate (211 stories). Anger in its coverage rose to about one and a half times its own usual.

Conflict & violence

Mauritania

67 of its 75 stories (89%) were about people being harmed, usually 49%. Nouakchott accounted for 60 of Mauritania's 67 stories about harm, carried by 68 outlets. Its coverage was about three times as warm as the world's.

Also named far more than usual: cholera in Zimbabwe (91 of its stories, about three times its usual); storm surge in Philippines (632 of its stories, about 5 times its usual); wildfires in Puerto Rico (56 of its stories, about 6 times its usual); storm surge in China (104 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); malaria in Indonesia (31 of its stories, more than ten times its usual).

27 in 100 stories were about harm

usually 21; 24 the day before
27 in 10019 in 10017 Aug24 Aug31 Aug7 Sep15 Sep17 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 1009 Sep: 22 in 10010 Sep: 22 in 10011 Sep: 23 in 10012 Sep: 23 in 10013 Sep: 22 in 10014 Sep: 24 in 10015 Sep: 27 in 100 · this day

Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 15 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 30,507 stories about harm among 114,278 counted on 15 Sep.

Read the day's briefing

The share of stories about people being harmed was the highest since 1 January 2018. 27 in every 100 of the day's 114,278 news stories were about people being harmed, above the usual 21. Reports of evacuations ran at about 4 times the usual rate, most often about the US and the Philippines. Reports of volunteers, a sign of help, ran at about three times the usual rate.

Written by code from the day's numbers.

Where it happened

feelings in full →
Feelings Events Harm Warmth
Perth, Australia -- accidents & disasters: 24 stories, carried by 101 outlets; harsh wording in 88 in 100Palermo, Italy -- attacks & violence: 157 stories, carried by 141 outlets; harsh wording in 73 in 100Central Equatoria, South Sudan -- attacks & violence: 75 stories, carried by 84 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Damascus, Syria -- attacks & violence: 78 stories, carried by 98 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Galkayo, Somalia -- protests & strikes: 11 stories, carried by 103 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Kooragang Island, Australia -- protests & strikes: 17 stories, carried by 125 outlets; harsh wording in 94 in 100Accrington, UK -- attacks & violence: 61 stories, carried by 169 outlets; harsh wording in 95 in 100Kompienga, Burkina Faso -- attacks & violence: 90 stories, carried by 108 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Hajin, Syria -- attacks & violence: 100 stories, carried by 112 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Guangdong, China -- accidents & disasters: 102 stories, carried by 120 outlets; harsh wording in 97 in 100Vienna, Austria -- deaths, cause not given: 109 stories, carried by 173 outlets; harsh wording in 92 in 100Jerusalem, Israel -- protests & strikes: 384 stories, carried by 250 outlets; harsh wording in 96 in 100Addis Ababa, Ethiopia -- attacks & violence: 199 stories, carried by 152 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Paris, France -- protests & strikes: 150 stories, carried by 170 outlets; harsh wording in 98 in 100Istanbul, Türkiye -- protests & strikes: 151 stories, carried by 161 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Bern, Switzerland -- accidents & disasters: 192 stories, carried by 361 outlets; harsh wording in 59 in 100Cairo, Egypt -- protests & strikes: 154 stories, carried by 225 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Moscow, Russia -- protests & strikes: 222 stories, carried by 270 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Mexico City, Mexico -- attacks & violence: 239 stories, carried by 323 outlets; harsh wording in 99 in 100Kigali, Rwanda -- attacks & violence: 193 stories, carried by 264 outlets; harsh wording in 99 in 100Carolinas, Philippines -- accidents & disasters: 294 stories, carried by 296 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Cagayan, Philippines -- accidents & disasters: 412 stories, carried by 508 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Swansboro, US -- accidents & disasters: 397 stories, carried by 720 outlets; harsh wording in 93 in 100Myrtle Beach, US -- accidents & disasters: 1,425 stories, carried by 1,190 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 harsher than usual. Filled dot: today. Ring: usual.

● Angerabout as usual
● Warmthabout as usual
● Griefa little more 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?

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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.