← 22 Oct Tuesday 23 October 2018 · to 23:59 UTC 24 Oct →
What the world's news said happened to people.
Counts of coverage, not of suffering
39,544 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 →

A disaster in Taipei, rights and justice in Riyadh and people injured in Lebanon drew the news. Saudi Arabia's coverage was about three times as grief-stricken as the world's. Taken together, the world's news read softer than usual.

Part of lifeRights & justice 32 in 100 of the stories about harm · more than usual Country that rose mostCzechia 74 in 100 of its 354 stories, usually 31
RegionLatin America & Caribbean 41 in 100 of its stories, usually 31
Tone of the words Softer than usual across the world's stories about harm

What the world's news was about today

how these are picked →
Disasters & accidents

Taiwan

335 of its 656 stories (51%) were about people being harmed, usually 27%. Taipei accounted for 262 of Taiwan's 335 stories about harm, carried by 207 outlets. Reports of people injured ran at about twice the usual rate (253 stories). Tsunami was named in 11 of its stories about harm, about 4 times usual.

Rights & justice

Saudi Arabia

2,450 of its 4,973 stories (49%) were about people being harmed, usually 38%. Riyadh accounted for 1,571 of Saudi Arabia's 2,450 stories about harm, carried by 1,068 outlets. Reports of people killed ran at about three times the usual rate (1,224 stories). Its coverage was about three times as grief-stricken as the world's.

Conflict & violence

Lebanon

78 of its 222 stories (35%) were about people being harmed, usually 24%. Reports of people injured ran at about 6 times the usual rate (31 stories). Food poisoning was named in 17 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual. Its coverage was about one and a half times as fearful as the world's.

6 more places the news pointed at
Disasters & accidents

Morocco

150 of its 230 stories (65%) were about people being harmed, usually 41%. Rabat accounted for 136 of Morocco's 150 stories about harm, carried by 171 outlets. Reports of people killed ran at about three times the usual rate (131 stories). Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's.

Disasters & accidents

Norway

105 of its 321 stories (33%) were about people being harmed, usually 18%. Reports of people killed ran at about three times the usual rate (80 stories). Helicopter crash was named in 43 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual. Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's.

Disasters & accidents

Mexico

1,488 of its 2,594 stories (57%) were about people being harmed, usually 33%. Reports of evacuations ran at about 10 times the usual rate (54 stories). Storm surge was named in 565 of its stories about harm, about 5 times usual, with drownings.

Food & livelihood

Madagascar

18 of its 32 stories (56%) were about people being harmed, usually 11%. Reports of arrests ran at more than ten times the usual rate (6 stories). Hunger was named in 14 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual.

Conflict & violence

Kiribati

10 of its 12 stories (83%) were about people being harmed, usually 39%. Reports of people killed ran at about 5 times the usual rate (10 stories). Its coverage was about three times as grief-stricken as the world's.

Rights & justice

Honduras

91 of its 176 stories (52%) were about people being harmed, usually 42%. Reports of arrests ran at about three times the usual rate (14 stories). Its coverage was about twice as fearful as the world's.

Also named far more than usual: cholera in Yemen (105 of its stories, about 4 times its usual); storm surge in Mexico (565 of its stories, about 5 times its usual); helicopter crash in Norway (43 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); hunger in Madagascar (14 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); tropical storm in Guam (12 of its stories, about 6 times its usual).

19 in 100 stories were about harm

usually 20; 19 the day before
24 in 10017 in 10024 Sep1 Oct8 Oct15 Oct23 Oct24 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 1008 Oct: 21 in 1009 Oct: 21 in 10010 Oct: 21 in 10011 Oct: 22 in 10012 Oct: 21 in 10013 Oct: 23 in 10014 Oct: 24 in 10015 Oct: 20 in 10016 Oct: 19 in 10017 Oct: 19 in 10018 Oct: 19 in 10019 Oct: 18 in 10020 Oct: 22 in 10021 Oct: 21 in 10022 Oct: 19 in 10023 Oct: 19 in 100 · this day

Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 23 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 39,544 stories about harm among 203,832 counted on 23 Oct.

Read the day's briefing

For the third day running, the news turned to Taiwan. Stories about people being harmed made up 19 in every 100 of the day's 203,832 stories, as usual. Mentions of the cholera ran about 4 times their usual in Yemen's news. In Taiwan, 51% of the news was about people being harmed, where 27% is usual. A year earlier, on 23 October 2017, 22 in every 100 stories were about people being harmed, against 19 today.

Written by code from the day's numbers.

Where it happened

feelings in full →
Feelings Events Harm Warmth
Quetta, Pakistan -- accidents & disasters: 30 stories, carried by 43 outlets; harsh wording in 97 in 100Gauhati, India -- protests & strikes: 48 stories, carried by 41 outlets; harsh wording in 96 in 100Beirut, Lebanon -- attacks & violence: 37 stories, carried by 52 outlets; harsh wording in 86 in 100Beijing, China -- accidents & disasters: 194 stories, carried by 159 outlets; harsh wording in 89 in 100Islamabad, Pakistan -- attacks & violence: 106 stories, carried by 88 outlets; harsh wording in 90 in 100Euphrates, Syria -- attacks & violence: 43 stories, carried by 52 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Paris, France -- people displaced: 219 stories, carried by 123 outlets; harsh wording in 88 in 100Anadolu, Türkiye -- protests & strikes: 32 stories, carried by 119 outlets; harsh wording in 84 in 100Idlib, Syria -- attacks & violence: 48 stories, carried by 113 outlets; harsh wording in 94 in 100Baghdad, Iraq -- attacks & violence: 62 stories, carried by 73 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Moscow, Russia -- attacks & violence: 90 stories, carried by 139 outlets; harsh wording in 90 in 100Kabul, Afghanistan -- attacks & violence: 59 stories, carried by 84 outlets; harsh wording in 98 in 100Salif, Yemen -- accidents & disasters: 59 stories, carried by 76 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Gaza, Palestine -- protests & strikes: 156 stories, carried by 163 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Munich, Germany -- accidents & disasters: 120 stories, carried by 165 outlets; harsh wording in 94 in 100Pearl River, China -- accidents & disasters: 127 stories, carried by 158 outlets; harsh wording in 88 in 100Mogadishu, Somalia -- attacks & violence: 116 stories, carried by 164 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Jerusalem, Israel -- attacks & violence: 340 stories, carried by 288 outlets; harsh wording in 93 in 100Rabat, Morocco -- accidents & disasters: 136 stories, carried by 171 outlets; harsh wording in 99 in 100Atlanta, US -- protests & strikes: 259 stories, carried by 287 outlets; harsh wording in 96 in 100Taipei, Taiwan -- accidents & disasters: 262 stories, carried by 207 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Nayarit, Mexico -- accidents & disasters: 151 stories, carried by 212 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Bedford, US -- protests & strikes: 646 stories, carried by 638 outlets; harsh wording in 99 in 100Sinaloa, Mexico -- accidents & disasters: 345 stories, carried by 567 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 softer 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.