← 16 May Friday 17 May 2019 · to 23:59 UTC 18 May →
What the world's news said happened to people.
Counts of coverage, not of suffering
34,986 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 news turned to protests in Managua (Nicaragua), violence in Tehran and storms in Nepal. Nicaragua's coverage was about twice as fearful as the world's. In the world's news as a whole, the wording was softer than usual.

Part of lifeRights & justice 28 in 100 of the stories about harm · about as usual Country that rose mostNicaragua 89 in 100 of its 123 stories, usually 54
RegionMiddle East & North Africa 43 in 100 of its stories, usually 38
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

Nicaragua

110 of its 123 stories (89%) were about people being harmed, usually 54%. Managua accounted for 99 of Nicaragua's 110 stories about harm, carried by 98 outlets. 78 of Managua's 99 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of people injured ran at more than ten times the usual rate (79 stories). Its coverage was about twice as fearful as the world's.

Conflict & violence

Iran

1,037 of its 2,110 stories (49%) were about people being harmed, usually 29%. Tehran accounted for 936 of Iran's 1,037 stories about harm, carried by 868 outlets. Reports of people injured ran at about twice the usual rate (72 stories). Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's. Grief in its coverage rose to about twice its own usual.

Health

Nepal

140 of its 256 stories (55%) were about people being harmed, usually 32%. Reports of people falling ill ran at about 6 times the usual rate (11 stories). Storms were named in 16 of its stories about harm, about 5 times usual. Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's.

6 more places the news pointed at
Protests & strikes

Taiwan

352 of its 846 stories (42%) were about people being harmed, usually 17%. 231 of Taipei's 293 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of arrests ran at about 6 times the usual rate (49 stories). Heavy rain was named in 45 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.

Conflict & violence

Yemen

145 of its 174 stories (83%) were about people being harmed, usually 66%. Sanaa accounted for 107 of Yemen's 145 stories about harm, carried by 77 outlets. Reports of people falling ill ran at more than ten times the usual rate (9 stories). Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's.

Conflict & violence

Cuba

70 of its 178 stories (39%) were about people being harmed, usually 24%. Reports of people killed ran at about three times the usual rate (18 stories). Drownings were named in 43 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual. Grief in its coverage rose to about twice its own usual.

Protests & strikes

Croatia

47 of its 77 stories (61%) were about people being harmed, usually 21%. 43 of Zagreb's 45 stories were about protests or strikes. Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's.

Protests & strikes

Morocco

65 of its 138 stories (47%) were about people being harmed, usually 22%. 27 of Rabat's 34 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of people affected ran at about 6 times the usual rate (29 stories).

Rights & justice

South Korea

151 of its 540 stories (28%) were about people being harmed, usually 12%. Reports of abductions ran at more than ten times the usual rate (45 stories). Drought was named in 32 of its stories about harm, about 10 times usual, with hunger.

Also named far more than usual: drownings in Cuba (43 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); drought in North Korea (22 of its stories, about 8 times its usual); drought in South Korea (32 of its stories, about 10 times its usual); hiv in Pakistan (60 of its stories, about 5 times its usual); heavy rain in Taiwan (45 of its stories, more than ten times its usual).

19 in 100 stories were about harm

usually 20; 19 the day before
23 in 10018 in 10018 Apr25 Apr2 May9 May17 May18 Apr: 18 in 10019 Apr: 19 in 10020 Apr: 20 in 10021 Apr: 23 in 10022 Apr: 21 in 10023 Apr: 20 in 10024 Apr: 20 in 10025 Apr: 20 in 10026 Apr: 19 in 10027 Apr: 20 in 10028 Apr: 23 in 10029 Apr: 21 in 10030 Apr: 20 in 1001 May: 20 in 1002 May: 19 in 1003 May: 21 in 1004 May: 21 in 1005 May: 21 in 1006 May: 20 in 1007 May: 19 in 1008 May: 19 in 1009 May: 18 in 10010 May: 18 in 10011 May: 19 in 10012 May: 20 in 10013 May: 18 in 10014 May: 19 in 10015 May: 18 in 10016 May: 19 in 10017 May: 19 in 100 · this day

Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 17 May. 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 34,986 stories about harm among 187,369 counted on 17 May.

Read the day's briefing

Mentions of drownings ran more than ten times their usual in Cuba's news. of the day's 187,369 news stories, 19 in every 100 were about people being harmed, below the usual 20. Nicaragua stood out: 89% of its news was about people being harmed, usually 54%. On 17 May 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
Damascus, Syria -- protests & strikes: 55 stories, carried by 66 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Havana, Cuba -- attacks & violence: 65 stories, carried by 63 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Khartoum, Sudan -- protests & strikes: 50 stories, carried by 45 outlets; harsh wording in 98 in 100Zagreb, Croatia -- protests & strikes: 45 stories, carried by 46 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Caracas, Venezuela -- protests & strikes: 69 stories, carried by 58 outlets; harsh wording in 99 in 100Algiers, Algeria -- protests & strikes: 49 stories, carried by 49 outlets; harsh wording in 98 in 100Sanaa, Yemen -- attacks & violence: 107 stories, carried by 77 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Larkana, Pakistan -- disease & outbreaks: 51 stories, carried by 51 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Jakarta, Indonesia -- attacks & violence: 65 stories, carried by 59 outlets; harsh wording in 97 in 100Melbourne, Australia -- people displaced: 94 stories, carried by 106 outlets; harsh wording in 91 in 100Bamako, Mali -- attacks & violence: 53 stories, carried by 57 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Athens, Greece -- attacks & violence: 65 stories, carried by 66 outlets; harsh wording in 97 in 100Paris, France -- attacks & violence: 281 stories, carried by 190 outlets; harsh wording in 63 in 100Dubai, United Arab Emirates -- deaths, cause not given: 84 stories, carried by 133 outlets; harsh wording in 94 in 100Tel Aviv, Israel -- protests & strikes: 196 stories, carried by 157 outlets; harsh wording in 84 in 100Bhopal, India -- attacks & violence: 260 stories, carried by 88 outlets; harsh wording in 96 in 100Kabul, Afghanistan -- attacks & violence: 93 stories, carried by 82 outlets; harsh wording in 98 in 100Managua, Nicaragua -- protests & strikes: 99 stories, carried by 98 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Idlib, Syria -- attacks & violence: 161 stories, carried by 132 outlets; harsh wording in 99 in 100Beijing, China -- attacks & violence: 356 stories, carried by 368 outlets; harsh wording in 74 in 100Baghdad, Iraq -- attacks & violence: 104 stories, carried by 174 outlets; harsh wording in 96 in 100Houston, US -- deaths, cause not given: 405 stories, carried by 387 outlets; harsh wording in 96 in 100Alabama, US -- deaths, cause not given: 489 stories, carried by 523 outlets; harsh wording in 98 in 100Tehran, Iran -- attacks & violence: 936 stories, carried by 868 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.