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What the world's news said happened to people.
Counts of coverage, not of suffering
34,984 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.

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Violence in Kigali, protests in Paris (France) and people affected in Iran drew the news. Rwanda's coverage was about twice as angry as the world's. In the world's news as a whole, the wording was harsher than usual.

Part of lifeRights & justice 30 in 100 of the stories about harm · about as usual Country that rose mostIran 59 in 100 of its 474 stories, usually 34
RegionMiddle East & North Africa 51 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 →
Conflict & violence

Rwanda

53 of its 79 stories (67%) were about people being harmed, usually 41%. Kigali accounted for 35 of Rwanda's 53 stories about harm, carried by 33 outlets. Reports of refugees ran at about 6 times the usual rate (13 stories). Ebola was named in 13 of its stories about harm, about three times usual, with malaria. Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's.

Protests & strikes

France

1,328 of its 3,075 stories (43%) were about people being harmed, usually 31%. 368 of Paris' 638 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of people killed ran at about three times the usual rate (1,135 stories). Typhoon was named in 15 of its stories about harm, about three times usual, with plague. Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's. Grief in its coverage rose to about three times its own usual.

Health

Iran

279 of its 474 stories (59%) were about people being harmed, usually 34%. Reports of people affected ran at more than ten times the usual rate (206 stories). Food poisoning was named in 82 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.

Deaths & injuries, cause not given

Nepal

Reports of people killed ran at about twice the usual rate (66 stories). Extreme cold was named in 18 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual. Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's.

6 more places the news pointed at
Conflict & violence

Palestine

1,468 of its 2,084 stories (70%) were about people being harmed, usually 50%. Ramallah accounted for 1,397 of Palestine's 1,468 stories about harm, carried by 235 outlets. Reports of people killed ran at about three times the usual rate (885 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as angry as the world's.

Conflict & violence

Bangladesh

205 of its 383 stories (54%) were about people being harmed, usually 36%. Dhaka accounted for 143 of Bangladesh's 205 stories about harm, carried by 95 outlets. Reports of people injured ran at about 8 times the usual rate (129 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as warm as the world's. Anger in its coverage rose to about one and a half times its own usual.

Protests & strikes

Ukraine

158 of its 366 stories (43%) were about people being harmed, usually 34%. 47 of Kiev's 74 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of refugees ran at about 10 times the usual rate (7 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as fearful as the world's.

Protests & strikes

Canada

1,463 of its 5,718 stories (26%) were about people being harmed, usually 18%. 263 of Toronto's 490 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of arrests ran at about 6 times the usual rate (691 stories). Avalanche was named in 42 of its stories about harm, about 10 times usual, with drought and plane crash.

Conflict & violence

South Sudan

56 of its 73 stories (77%) were about people being harmed, usually 65%. Reports of refugees ran at about twice the usual rate (8 stories). Hunger was named in 11 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.

Protests & strikes

Nicaragua

65 of its 74 stories (88%) were about people being harmed, usually 60%. Managua accounted for 49 of Nicaragua's 65 stories about harm, carried by 45 outlets. 33 of Managua's 49 stories were about protests or strikes.

Also named far more than usual: haemorrhagic fever in Congo (93 of its stories, about 8 times its usual); drought in Poland (65 of its stories, about 5 times its usual); cyclone in Australia (175 of its stories, about 6 times its usual); road crashes in Kashmir (14 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); hunger in South Sudan (11 of its stories, more than ten times its usual).

19 in 100 stories were about harm

usually 20; 18 the day before
23 in 10017 in 10015 Nov22 Nov29 Nov6 Dec14 Dec15 Nov: 20 in 10016 Nov: 20 in 10017 Nov: 22 in 10018 Nov: 23 in 10019 Nov: 20 in 10020 Nov: 20 in 10021 Nov: 20 in 10022 Nov: 20 in 10023 Nov: 20 in 10024 Nov: 21 in 10025 Nov: 22 in 10026 Nov: 21 in 10027 Nov: 19 in 10028 Nov: 19 in 10029 Nov: 19 in 10030 Nov: 19 in 1001 Dec: 23 in 1002 Dec: 19 in 1003 Dec: 17 in 1004 Dec: 18 in 1005 Dec: 18 in 1006 Dec: 19 in 1007 Dec: 18 in 1008 Dec: 19 in 1009 Dec: 19 in 10010 Dec: 18 in 10011 Dec: 19 in 10012 Dec: 18 in 10013 Dec: 18 in 10014 Dec: 19 in 100 · this day

Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 14 Dec. 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 34,984 stories about harm among 180,454 counted on 14 Dec.

Read the day's briefing

Congo's news mentioned haemorrhagic fever about 8 times as often as usual. 19 in every 100 of the day's 180,454 news stories were about people being harmed, as usual. In Rwanda, 67% of the news was about people being harmed, where 41% is usual. On 14 December 2017, a year earlier, the share was 20 in every 100, against 19 today.

Written by code from the day's numbers.

Where it happened

feelings in full →
Feelings Events Harm Warmth
Lviv, Ukraine -- attacks & violence: 41 stories, carried by 46 outlets; harsh wording in 98 in 100Ankara, Türkiye -- attacks & violence: 117 stories, carried by 96 outlets; harsh wording in 97 in 100Riyadh, Saudi Arabia -- attacks & violence: 76 stories, carried by 62 outlets; harsh wording in 93 in 100Quetta, Pakistan -- attacks & violence: 51 stories, carried by 52 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Kabul, Afghanistan -- attacks & violence: 52 stories, carried by 53 outlets; harsh wording in 96 in 100Budapest, Hungary -- protests & strikes: 56 stories, carried by 55 outlets; harsh wording in 96 in 100Maiduguri, Nigeria -- attacks & violence: 88 stories, carried by 79 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Fond du Lac, Canada -- accidents & disasters: 38 stories, carried by 61 outlets; harsh wording in 84 in 100Denizli, Türkiye -- people displaced: 9 stories, carried by 59 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Sinjar, Iraq -- protests & strikes: 48 stories, carried by 61 outlets; harsh wording in 98 in 100Gauhati, India -- protests & strikes: 75 stories, carried by 84 outlets; harsh wording in 99 in 100Belchatow, Poland -- accidents & disasters: 62 stories, carried by 66 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Jerusalem, Israel -- attacks & violence: 195 stories, carried by 168 outlets; harsh wording in 88 in 100Sydney, Australia -- accidents & disasters: 145 stories, carried by 166 outlets; harsh wording in 88 in 100Hodeida, Yemen -- attacks & violence: 136 stories, carried by 116 outlets; harsh wording in 88 in 100Tehran, Iran -- disease & outbreaks: 114 stories, carried by 120 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100East Sussex, UK -- people displaced: 16 stories, carried by 112 outlets; harsh wording in 88 in 100Ramallah, Palestine -- attacks & violence: 1,397 stories, carried by 235 outlets; harsh wording in 99 in 100Hajin, Syria -- protests & strikes: 185 stories, carried by 231 outlets; harsh wording in 99 in 100Connecticut, US -- attacks & violence: 149 stories, carried by 252 outlets; harsh wording in 93 in 100Toronto, Canada -- protests & strikes: 490 stories, carried by 511 outlets; harsh wording in 95 in 100Paris, France -- protests & strikes: 638 stories, carried by 664 outlets; harsh wording in 98 in 100Strasbourg, France -- attacks & violence: 307 stories, carried by 439 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Tucson, US -- protests & strikes: 421 stories, carried by 693 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
● 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.