← 19 Apr Saturday 20 April 2019 · to 23:59 UTC 21 Apr →
What the world's news said happened to people.
Counts of coverage, not of suffering
21,161 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 violence in Kabul, protests in Dublin (Ireland) and rights and justice in Monrovia. Congo's coverage was about three times as angry as the world's. Everywhere we counted, the words were much harsher than usual.

Help and hope: reports of volunteers ran at about twice the usual rate →
Part of lifeRights & justice 31 in 100 of the stories about harm · about as usual Country that rose mostLiberia 70 in 100 of its 121 stories, usually 27
RegionCentral Asia 33 in 100 of its stories, usually 14
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 →
Conflict & violence

Afghanistan

434 of its 546 stories (79%) were about people being harmed, usually 65%. Kabul accounted for 344 of Afghanistan's 434 stories about harm, carried by 369 outlets. Reports of evacuations ran at more than ten times the usual rate (31 stories). Illness was named in 63 of its stories about harm, about 7 times usual. Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's.

Protests & strikes

Ireland

230 of its 1,080 stories (21%) were about people being harmed, usually 14%. 54 of Dublin's 80 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of people falling ill ran at more than ten times the usual rate (5 stories). Plague was named in 10 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual. Anger in its coverage rose to about one and a half times its own usual.

Rights & justice

Liberia

85 of its 121 stories (70%) were about people being harmed, usually 27%. Monrovia accounted for 82 of Liberia's 85 stories about harm, carried by 81 outlets. Ebola was named in 80 of its stories about harm, about 5 times usual. Its coverage was about one and a half times as warm as the world's. Fear in its coverage rose to about twice its own usual.

Health

Congo

184 of its 201 stories (92%) were about people being harmed, usually 72%. Reports of arrests ran at more than ten times the usual rate (129 stories). Haemorrhagic fever was named in 108 of its stories about harm, about 5 times usual. Its coverage was about three times as angry as the world's.

6 more places the news pointed at
Conflict & violence

Libya

206 of its 270 stories (76%) were about people being harmed, usually 57%. Tripoli accounted for 200 of Libya's 206 stories about harm, carried by 175 outlets. Reports of people injured ran at about twice the usual rate (133 stories). Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's.

Conflict & violence

Mali

89 of its 95 stories (94%) were about people being harmed, usually 71%. Mopti accounted for 66 of Mali's 89 stories about harm, carried by 60 outlets. Reports of arrests ran at about 7 times the usual rate (27 stories). Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's. Warmth in its coverage rose to about one and a half times its own usual.

Protests & strikes

UK

1,403 of its 5,297 stories (26%) were about people being harmed, usually 16%. 262 of London's 424 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of arrests ran at about 4 times the usual rate (566 stories). Plague was named in 41 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual, with wildfires.

Displacement

Portugal

100 of its 163 stories (61%) were about people being harmed, usually 24%. Funchal accounted for 98 of Portugal's 100 stories about harm, carried by 90 outlets. Reports of evacuations ran at more than ten times the usual rate (47 stories).

Deaths & injuries, cause not given

Kazakhstan

29 of its 48 stories (60%) were about people being harmed, usually 16%. Reports of people injured ran at more than ten times the usual rate (21 stories). Fear in its coverage rose to about one and a half times its own usual.

Conflict & violence

Mexico

252 of its 596 stories (42%) were about people being harmed, usually 19%. Reports of people injured ran at more than ten times the usual rate (157 stories). Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's.

Also named far more than usual: outbreaks in Israel (111 of its stories, about 7 times its usual); avalanche in Argentina (10 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); illness in Peru (15 of its stories, about three times its usual); tornadoes in US (686 of its stories, about 4 times its usual); heavy rain in Canada (50 of its stories, more than ten times its usual).

20 in 100 stories were about harm

usually 19; 19 the day before
21 in 10018 in 10022 Mar29 Mar5 Apr12 Apr20 Apr22 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 1005 Apr: 19 in 1006 Apr: 20 in 1007 Apr: 20 in 1008 Apr: 20 in 1009 Apr: 19 in 10010 Apr: 19 in 10011 Apr: 19 in 10012 Apr: 19 in 10013 Apr: 19 in 10014 Apr: 20 in 10015 Apr: 19 in 10016 Apr: 18 in 10017 Apr: 19 in 10018 Apr: 18 in 10019 Apr: 19 in 10020 Apr: 20 in 100 · this day

Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 20 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 21,161 stories about harm among 105,447 counted on 20 Apr.

Read the day's briefing

Help and hope: reports of volunteers ran at about twice the usual rate. of the day's 105,447 news stories, 20 in every 100 were about people being harmed, as usual. Liberia's news mentioned Ebola about 5 times as often as usual. Afghanistan's news was 79% about people being harmed, against a usual 65%. On 20 April 2018, a year earlier, the share was 21 in every 100, against 20 today.

Written by code from the day's numbers.

Where it happened

feelings in full →
Feelings Events Harm Warmth
Damascus, Syria -- attacks & violence: 57 stories, carried by 47 outlets; harsh wording in 96 in 100Balakot, Pakistan -- attacks & violence: 67 stories, carried by 54 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Islamabad, Pakistan -- attacks & violence: 103 stories, carried by 93 outlets; harsh wording in 88 in 100Kanpur, India -- accidents & disasters: 77 stories, carried by 58 outlets; harsh wording in 99 in 100Mopti, Mali -- attacks & violence: 66 stories, carried by 60 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Funchal, Portugal -- people displaced: 98 stories, carried by 90 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Moscow, Russia -- protests & strikes: 87 stories, carried by 104 outlets; harsh wording in 93 in 100Khartoum, Sudan -- protests & strikes: 113 stories, carried by 89 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Managua, Nicaragua -- protests & strikes: 53 stories, carried by 65 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Cerro Torre, Argentina -- accidents & disasters: 10 stories, carried by 71 outlets; harsh wording in 90 in 100Dhaka, Bangladesh -- protests & strikes: 106 stories, carried by 101 outlets; harsh wording in 94 in 100Crimea, Ukraine -- attacks & violence: 49 stories, carried by 75 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Letterkenny, Ireland -- people displaced: 33 stories, carried by 113 outlets; harsh wording in 94 in 100Quebec, Canada -- accidents & disasters: 60 stories, carried by 144 outlets; harsh wording in 95 in 100Minatitlan, Mexico -- attacks & violence: 129 stories, carried by 115 outlets; harsh wording in 98 in 100Pozarevac, -- attacks & violence: 126 stories, carried by 121 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Tripoli, Libya -- attacks & violence: 200 stories, carried by 175 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100London, UK -- protests & strikes: 424 stories, carried by 430 outlets; harsh wording in 88 in 100Denver, US -- attacks & violence: 565 stories, carried by 518 outlets; harsh wording in 97 in 100Cairo, Egypt -- protests & strikes: 308 stories, carried by 358 outlets; harsh wording in 99 in 100Northern Ireland, UK -- protests & strikes: 330 stories, carried by 462 outlets; harsh wording in 97 in 100Kabul, Afghanistan -- attacks & violence: 344 stories, carried by 369 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Atlanta, US -- accidents & disasters: 499 stories, carried by 491 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Paris, France -- protests & strikes: 564 stories, carried by 840 outlets; harsh wording in 97 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.

● Angera little more than 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?

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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.