← 20 Sep Friday 21 September 2018 · to 23:59 UTC 22 Sep →
What the world's news said happened to people.
Counts of coverage, not of suffering
40,297 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 Bucharest (Romania), a disaster in Lake Victoria and rights and justice in Hanoi drew the news. Kashmir's coverage was about three times as fearful as the world's. In the world's news as a whole, the wording was much harsher than usual.

Part of lifeRights & justice 29 in 100 of the stories about harm · about as usual Country that rose mostTanzania 92 in 100 of its 1,012 stories, usually 28
RegionSub-Saharan Africa 36 in 100 of its stories, usually 29
Tone of the words Much harsher than usual across the world's stories about harm

What the world's news was about today

how these are picked →
Protests & strikes

Romania

94 of its 375 stories (25%) were about people being harmed, usually 12%. 81 of Bucharest's 87 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of arrests ran at about 7 times the usual rate (10 stories). Meningitis was named in 15 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual. Its coverage was about one and a half times as warm as the world's.

Disasters & accidents

Tanzania

935 of its 1,012 stories (92%) were about people being harmed, usually 28%. Lake Victoria accounted for 740 of Tanzania's 935 stories about harm, carried by 752 outlets. Reports of people affected ran at more than ten times the usual rate (674 stories). Its coverage was about three times as grief-stricken as the world's.

Rights & justice

Vietnam

469 of its 942 stories (50%) were about people being harmed, usually 31%. Hanoi accounted for 360 of Vietnam's 469 stories about harm, carried by 363 outlets. Reports of people killed ran at about 4 times the usual rate (363 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as warm as the world's.

Conflict & violence

Kashmir

241 of its 334 stories (72%) were about people being harmed, usually 52%. Jammu accounted for 186 of Kashmir's 241 stories about harm, carried by 65 outlets. Reports of abductions ran at more than ten times the usual rate (124 stories). Its coverage was about three times as fearful as the world's.

6 more places the news pointed at
Disasters & accidents

Philippines

506 of its 989 stories (51%) were about people being harmed, usually 45%. Reports of evacuations ran at about three times the usual rate (141 stories). Earthquake was named in 78 of its stories about harm, about 5 times usual. Fear in its coverage rose to about one and a half times its own usual.

Protests & strikes

Palestine

114 of Gaza's 219 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of people injured ran at about twice the usual rate (159 stories). Outbreaks were named in 58 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual, with drought. Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's.

Rights & justice

Taiwan

248 of its 420 stories (59%) were about people being harmed, usually 19%. Taipei accounted for 214 of Taiwan's 248 stories about harm, carried by 391 outlets. Reports of arrests ran at more than ten times the usual rate (155 stories).

Protests & strikes

Eswatini

75 of its 86 stories (87%) were about people being harmed, usually 35%. 31 of Mbabane's 31 stories were about protests or strikes. Its coverage was about one and a half times as warm as the world's.

Conflict & violence

Mozambique

49 of its 65 stories (75%) were about people being harmed, usually 28%. Reports of people injured ran at more than ten times the usual rate (46 stories). Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's.

Rights & justice

Portugal

94 of its 276 stories (34%) were about people being harmed, usually 14%. Hepatitis was named in 10 of its stories about harm, about three times usual. Its coverage was about one and a half times as angry as the world's.

Also named far more than usual: hurricane in Afghanistan (83 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); drownings in Puerto Rico (60 of its stories, about 7 times its usual); poisoning in Netherlands (63 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); outbreaks in Bulgaria (14 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); illness in Japan (54 of its stories, about 4 times its usual).

20 in 100 stories were about harm

usually 21; 20 the day before
27 in 10019 in 10023 Aug30 Aug6 Sep13 Sep21 Sep23 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 10016 Sep: 26 in 10017 Sep: 21 in 10018 Sep: 20 in 10019 Sep: 20 in 10020 Sep: 20 in 10021 Sep: 20 in 100 · this day

Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 21 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 40,297 stories about harm among 197,312 counted on 21 Sep.

Read the day's briefing

Afghanistan's news mentioned the hurricane more than ten times as often as usual. 20 in every 100 of the day's 197,312 news stories were about people being harmed, as usual. In Romania, 25% of the news was about people being harmed, where 12% is usual. On 21 September 2017, a year earlier, the share was 23 in every 100, against 20 today.

Written by code from the day's numbers.

Where it happened

feelings in full →
Feelings Events Harm Warmth
Yao Xing, China -- attacks & violence: 55 stories, carried by 59 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Bucharest, Romania -- protests & strikes: 87 stories, carried by 71 outlets; harsh wording in 93 in 100Northern Ireland, UK -- accidents & disasters: 165 stories, carried by 207 outlets; harsh wording in 94 in 100Hemingstone, UK -- accidents & disasters: 124 stories, carried by 88 outlets; harsh wording in 94 in 100Jalandhar, India -- protests & strikes: 117 stories, carried by 110 outlets; harsh wording in 97 in 100Shenzhen, China -- accidents & disasters: 80 stories, carried by 80 outlets; harsh wording in 98 in 100Emsland, Germany -- people displaced: 85 stories, carried by 92 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Garissa, Kenya -- attacks & violence: 52 stories, carried by 80 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Islamabad, Pakistan -- attacks & violence: 196 stories, carried by 105 outlets; harsh wording in 94 in 100Tripoli, Libya -- attacks & violence: 80 stories, carried by 97 outlets; harsh wording in 99 in 100Wye River, Australia -- accidents & disasters: 8 stories, carried by 120 outlets; harsh wording in 88 in 100Copenhagen, Denmark -- attacks & violence: 117 stories, carried by 135 outlets; harsh wording in 92 in 100Devonport, Australia -- accidents & disasters: 41 stories, carried by 136 outlets; harsh wording in 80 in 100Kruger National Park, South Africa -- deaths, cause not given: 83 stories, carried by 130 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Moscow, Russia -- attacks & violence: 304 stories, carried by 276 outlets; harsh wording in 96 in 100Amsterdam, Netherlands -- disease & outbreaks: 100 stories, carried by 131 outlets; harsh wording in 98 in 100Idlib, Syria -- attacks & violence: 142 stories, carried by 128 outlets; harsh wording in 99 in 100Foz do Iguacu, Brazil -- attacks & violence: 80 stories, carried by 129 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Kampala, Uganda -- protests & strikes: 108 stories, carried by 190 outlets; harsh wording in 98 in 100Bugolora, Tanzania -- accidents & disasters: 73 stories, carried by 150 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Itogon, Philippines -- accidents & disasters: 201 stories, carried by 291 outlets; harsh wording in 99 in 100Spring Lake, US -- accidents & disasters: 202 stories, carried by 334 outlets; harsh wording in 99 in 100Cape Fear River, US -- accidents & disasters: 344 stories, carried by 431 outlets; harsh wording in 99 in 100Lake Victoria, Tanzania -- accidents & disasters: 740 stories, carried by 752 outlets; harsh wording in 96 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 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

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.