← 6 Oct Sunday 7 October 2018 · to 23:59 UTC 8 Oct →
What the world's news said happened to people.
Counts of coverage, not of suffering
24,715 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 tsunami in Haiti, the hunger in Iraq and protests in Juba (South Sudan) drew the news. Haiti's coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's. Across the world, the tone of the words was much harsher than usual.

Part of lifeRights & justice 30 in 100 of the stories about harm · about as usual Country that rose mostHaiti 88 in 100 of its 979 stories, usually 22
RegionLatin America & Caribbean 49 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 →
Disasters & accidents

Haiti

857 of its 979 stories (88%) were about people being harmed, usually 22%. Port-de-Paix accounted for 449 of Haiti's 857 stories about harm, carried by 585 outlets. Reports of people injured ran at more than ten times the usual rate (448 stories). Tsunami was named in 100 of its stories about harm, about 8 times usual. Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's.

Displacement

Iraq

260 of its 321 stories (81%) were about people being harmed, usually 55%. Baghdad accounted for 199 of Iraq's 260 stories about harm, carried by 219 outlets. Reports of refugees ran at more than ten times the usual rate (176 stories). Hunger was named in 158 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. Fear in its coverage rose to about one and a half times its own usual.

Protests & strikes

South Sudan

63 of its 75 stories (84%) were about people being harmed, usually 70%. Juba accounted for 60 of South Sudan's 63 stories about harm, carried by 34 outlets. 54 of Juba's 60 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of abductions ran at more than ten times the usual rate (6 stories). Its coverage was about twice as warm as the world's.

Rights & justice

Bulgaria

73 of its 99 stories (74%) were about people being harmed, usually 15%. Reports of people killed ran at about twice the usual rate (7 stories). Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's. Anger in its coverage rose to about three times its own usual.

6 more places the news pointed at
Disasters & accidents

Portugal

174 of its 307 stories (57%) were about people being harmed, usually 15%. Lisbon accounted for 170 of Portugal's 174 stories about harm, carried by 230 outlets. Reports of evacuations ran at more than ten times the usual rate (166 stories). Wildfires were named in 160 of its stories about harm, about 6 times usual.

Conflict & violence

Bosnia

157 of its 225 stories (70%) were about people being harmed, usually 26%. Sarajevo accounted for 145 of Bosnia's 157 stories about harm, carried by 145 outlets. Reports of people displaced ran at about 8 times the usual rate (16 stories).

Protests & strikes

Saudi Arabia

533 of its 932 stories (57%) were about people being harmed, usually 26%. 273 of Riyadh's 399 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of arrests ran at about 6 times the usual rate (163 stories).

Conflict & violence

Croatia

45 of its 139 stories (32%) were about people being harmed, usually 9%. Reports of people affected ran at about 4 times the usual rate (44 stories). Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's.

Conflict & violence

North Korea

160 of its 523 stories (31%) were about people being harmed, usually 12%. Reports of arrests ran at more than ten times the usual rate (144 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as warm as the world's.

Conflict & violence

Iran

265 of its 490 stories (54%) were about people being harmed, usually 41%. Tsunami was named in 16 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual. Its coverage was about 4 times as fearful as the world's.

Also named far more than usual: wildfires in Portugal (160 of its stories, about 6 times its usual); tropical storm in Mexico (205 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); tropical storm in Cuba (34 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); oil spill in France (64 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); train derailment in Sri Lanka (28 of its stories, more than ten times its usual).

23 in 100 stories were about harm

usually 21; 22 the day before
27 in 10017 in 1008 Sep15 Sep22 Sep29 Sep7 Oct8 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 10022 Sep: 23 in 10023 Sep: 22 in 10024 Sep: 20 in 10025 Sep: 19 in 10026 Sep: 18 in 10027 Sep: 17 in 10028 Sep: 19 in 10029 Sep: 22 in 10030 Sep: 21 in 1001 Oct: 19 in 1002 Oct: 19 in 1003 Oct: 19 in 1004 Oct: 19 in 1005 Oct: 20 in 1006 Oct: 22 in 1007 Oct: 23 in 100 · this day

Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 7 Oct. 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 24,715 stories about harm among 105,988 counted on 7 Oct.

Read the day's briefing

Haiti's news was 88% about people being harmed, against a usual 22%. In Portugal's news, mentions of wildfires ran about 6 times their usual. A year earlier, on 7 October 2017, 27 in every 100 stories were about people being harmed, against 23 today. 23 in every 100 of the day's 105,988 news stories were about people being harmed, above the usual 21. This week the news turned most often to Indonesia, on 3 of 7 days; help rose on 2 of them.

Written by code from the day's numbers.

Where it happened

feelings in full →
Feelings Events Harm Warmth
Banja, Croatia -- attacks & violence: 44 stories, carried by 48 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Ghazni, Afghanistan -- attacks & violence: 66 stories, carried by 55 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Kumbo, Cameroon -- people displaced: 106 stories, carried by 75 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Chetumal, Mexico -- accidents & disasters: 47 stories, carried by 72 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Baja California, Mexico -- accidents & disasters: 49 stories, carried by 72 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Damascus, Syria -- attacks & violence: 80 stories, carried by 82 outlets; harsh wording in 98 in 100Kabul, Afghanistan -- attacks & violence: 138 stories, carried by 104 outlets; harsh wording in 83 in 100Apolda, Germany -- deaths, cause not given: 70 stories, carried by 118 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Southport, Australia -- deaths, cause not given: 13 stories, carried by 114 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Dagestan, Russia -- protests & strikes: 60 stories, carried by 132 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Sarajevo, Bosnia -- attacks & violence: 145 stories, carried by 145 outlets; harsh wording in 99 in 100Paris, France -- accidents & disasters: 139 stories, carried by 294 outlets; harsh wording in 86 in 100Baghdad, Iraq -- people displaced: 199 stories, carried by 219 outlets; harsh wording in 99 in 100Jerusalem, Israel -- attacks & violence: 542 stories, carried by 267 outlets; harsh wording in 98 in 100Idlib, Syria -- attacks & violence: 182 stories, carried by 190 outlets; harsh wording in 99 in 100Tehran, Iran -- attacks & violence: 176 stories, carried by 236 outlets; harsh wording in 99 in 100Lisbon, Portugal -- accidents & disasters: 170 stories, carried by 230 outlets; harsh wording in 99 in 100Jakarta, Indonesia -- accidents & disasters: 235 stories, carried by 252 outlets; harsh wording in 97 in 100Riyadh, Saudi Arabia -- protests & strikes: 399 stories, carried by 373 outlets; harsh wording in 98 in 100Gros-Morne, Haiti -- accidents & disasters: 309 stories, carried by 321 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Balaroa, Indonesia -- accidents & disasters: 354 stories, carried by 394 outlets; harsh wording in 97 in 100Port-de-Paix, Haiti -- accidents & disasters: 449 stories, carried by 585 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Schoharie, US -- deaths, cause not given: 1,169 stories, carried by 1,430 outlets; harsh wording in 99 in 100Washington, US -- protests & strikes: 1,406 stories, carried by 1,230 outlets; harsh wording in 93 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
● 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?

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.