← 3 Apr Thursday 4 April 2019 · to 23:59 UTC 5 Apr →
What the world's news said happened to people.
Counts of coverage, not of suffering
38,521 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 →

Most of the day's attention went to protests in Minsk (Belarus), arrests in Guatemala and rights and justice in Tokyo. Rwanda's coverage was about 4 times as grief-stricken as the world's. Over the whole world, the tone was softer than usual.

Help and hope: reports of people freed or reunited ran at about one and a half times the usual rate →
Part of lifeRights & justice 33 in 100 of the stories about harm · more than usual Country that rose mostBelarus 60 in 100 of its 124 stories, usually 14
RegionCentral Asia 21 in 100 of its stories, usually 15
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 →
Protests & strikes

Belarus

75 of its 124 stories (60%) were about people being harmed, usually 14%. Minsk accounted for 53 of Belarus' 75 stories about harm, carried by 52 outlets. 46 of Minsk's 53 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of people killed ran at more than ten times the usual rate (65 stories).

Health

Guatemala

92 of its 120 stories (77%) were about people being harmed, usually 46%. Reports of arrests ran at about 4 times the usual rate (26 stories). Flu was named in 42 of its stories about harm, about 6 times usual. Its coverage was about three times as grief-stricken as the world's. Warmth in its coverage rose to about one and a half times its own usual.

Rights & justice

Japan

752 of its 2,051 stories (37%) were about people being harmed, usually 13%. Tokyo accounted for 624 of Japan's 752 stories about harm, carried by 501 outlets. Reports of arrests ran at more than ten times the usual rate (575 stories).

Conflict & violence

Rwanda

86 of its 144 stories (60%) were about people being harmed, usually 40%. Reports of people killed ran at about twice the usual rate (52 stories). Its coverage was about 4 times as grief-stricken as the world's.

6 more places the news pointed at
Conflict & violence

Burkina Faso

31 of its 38 stories (82%) were about people being harmed, usually 57%. Reports of abductions ran at about 4 times the usual rate (23 stories). Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's. Grief in its coverage rose to about one and a half times its own usual.

Disasters & accidents

Italy

255 of its 1,007 stories (25%) were about people being harmed, usually 17%. Reports of people affected ran at about 5 times the usual rate (135 stories). Drownings were named in 50 of its stories about harm, about 4 times usual, with drought.

Disasters & accidents

Iran

155 of its 333 stories (47%) were about people being harmed, usually 38%. Reports of people affected ran at about three times the usual rate (45 stories). Landslides were named in 18 of its stories about harm, about 4 times usual.

Protests & strikes

Argentina

42 of its 169 stories (25%) were about people being harmed, usually 15%. 20 of Buenos Aires' 28 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of people affected ran at about twice the usual rate (5 stories).

Protests & strikes

Greece

117 of its 412 stories (28%) were about people being harmed, usually 23%. 46 of Diavata's 57 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of refugees ran at about 5 times the usual rate (35 stories).

Conflict & violence

Afghanistan

Kabul accounted for 109 of Afghanistan's 184 stories about harm, carried by 97 outlets. Reports of arrests ran at about 5 times the usual rate (42 stories). Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's.

Also named far more than usual: cholera in Yemen (77 of its stories, about 4 times its usual); storms in South Korea (39 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); flooding in Paraguay (12 of its stories, about 8 times its usual); drownings in Italy (50 of its stories, about 4 times its usual); earthquake in Taiwan (11 of its stories, about three times its usual).

19 in 100 stories were about harm

usually 20; 19 the day before
25 in 10018 in 1006 Mar13 Mar20 Mar27 Mar4 Apr6 Mar: 19 in 1007 Mar: 19 in 1008 Mar: 19 in 1009 Mar: 20 in 10010 Mar: 21 in 10011 Mar: 19 in 10012 Mar: 19 in 10013 Mar: 20 in 10014 Mar: 20 in 10015 Mar: 22 in 10016 Mar: 25 in 10017 Mar: 24 in 10018 Mar: 23 in 10019 Mar: 20 in 10020 Mar: 20 in 10021 Mar: 21 in 10022 Mar: 20 in 10023 Mar: 21 in 10024 Mar: 20 in 10025 Mar: 19 in 10026 Mar: 18 in 10027 Mar: 20 in 10028 Mar: 20 in 10029 Mar: 19 in 10030 Mar: 21 in 10031 Mar: 19 in 1001 Apr: 18 in 1002 Apr: 18 in 1003 Apr: 19 in 1004 Apr: 19 in 100 · this day

Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 4 Apr. 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 38,521 stories about harm among 206,034 counted on 4 Apr.

Read the day's briefing

Belarus stood out: 60% of its news was about people being harmed, usually 14%. 19 in every 100 of the day's 206,034 news stories were about people being harmed, below the usual 20. On the side of help, reports of people freed or reunited ran at about one and a half times the usual rate. Yemen's news mentioned the cholera about 4 times as often as usual. On 4 April 2018, a year earlier, the share was 21 in every 100, against 19 today.

Written by code from the day's numbers.

Where it happened

feelings in full →
Feelings Events Harm Warmth
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia -- attacks & violence: 64 stories, carried by 61 outlets; harsh wording in 86 in 100Kigali, Rwanda -- attacks & violence: 56 stories, carried by 44 outlets; harsh wording in 95 in 100Minsk, Belarus -- protests & strikes: 53 stories, carried by 52 outlets; harsh wording in 91 in 100Paremoremo, New Zealand -- attacks & violence: 34 stories, carried by 46 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Diavata, Greece -- protests & strikes: 57 stories, carried by 53 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Cairo, Egypt -- protests & strikes: 77 stories, carried by 92 outlets; harsh wording in 86 in 100Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia -- protests & strikes: 91 stories, carried by 63 outlets; harsh wording in 93 in 100Caracas, Venezuela -- protests & strikes: 111 stories, carried by 80 outlets; harsh wording in 98 in 100Taez, Yemen -- disease & outbreaks: 8 stories, carried by 105 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Mogadishu, Somalia -- attacks & violence: 69 stories, carried by 64 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Ababa, Ethiopia -- deaths, cause not given: 10 stories, carried by 94 outlets; harsh wording in 60 in 100Karachi, Pakistan -- attacks & violence: 45 stories, carried by 140 outlets; harsh wording in 96 in 100Damascus, Syria -- attacks & violence: 84 stories, carried by 76 outlets; harsh wording in 94 in 100Tripoli, Libya -- attacks & violence: 107 stories, carried by 89 outlets; harsh wording in 98 in 100Moscow, Russia -- attacks & violence: 162 stories, carried by 140 outlets; harsh wording in 86 in 100Kabul, Afghanistan -- attacks & violence: 109 stories, carried by 97 outlets; harsh wording in 89 in 100Sanaa, Yemen -- protests & strikes: 82 stories, carried by 86 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Alexandria, Egypt -- attacks & violence: 112 stories, carried by 110 outlets; harsh wording in 98 in 100Ankara, Türkiye -- attacks & violence: 103 stories, carried by 109 outlets; harsh wording in 90 in 100Fort Collins, US -- accidents & disasters: 52 stories, carried by 184 outlets; harsh wording in 92 in 100Lampedusa, Italy -- accidents & disasters: 118 stories, carried by 177 outlets; harsh wording in 99 in 100Palm Beach, US -- attacks & violence: 323 stories, carried by 308 outlets; harsh wording in 99 in 100Wellington, New Zealand -- attacks & violence: 304 stories, carried by 285 outlets; harsh wording in 97 in 100Addis Ababa, Ethiopia -- deaths, cause not given: 757 stories, carried by 845 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?

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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.