← 20 May Tuesday 21 May 2019 · to 23:59 UTC 22 May →
What the world's news said happened to people.
Counts of coverage, not of suffering
34,474 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 rights and justice in Guatemala City, protests in Managua (Nicaragua) and people killed in Austria. Guatemala's coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's. Taken together, the world's news read about as usual.

Part of lifeRights & justice 29 in 100 of the stories about harm · about as usual Country that rose mostBermuda 70 in 100 of its 254 stories, usually 17
RegionOceania 24 in 100 of its stories, usually 20
Tone of the words About as usual across the world's stories about harm

What the world's news was about today

how these are picked →
Rights & justice

Guatemala

136 of its 170 stories (80%) were about people being harmed, usually 43%. Guatemala City accounted for 87 of Guatemala's 136 stories about harm, carried by 90 outlets. Reports of arrests ran at about 4 times the usual rate (100 stories). Flu was named in 99 of its stories about harm, about 4 times usual. Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's.

Protests & strikes

Nicaragua

77 of its 86 stories (90%) were about people being harmed, usually 54%. Managua accounted for 63 of Nicaragua's 77 stories about harm, carried by 59 outlets. 63 of Managua's 63 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of arrests ran at about twice the usual rate (72 stories).

Health

Austria

365 of its 901 stories (41%) were about people being harmed, usually 22%. Reports of people killed ran at about 5 times the usual rate (315 stories). Flu was named in 42 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

Indonesia

309 of its 699 stories (44%) were about people being harmed, usually 33%. Jakarta accounted for 241 of Indonesia's 309 stories about harm, carried by 187 outlets. Reports of arrests ran at about 4 times the usual rate (239 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as warm as the world's.

6 more places the news pointed at
Deaths & injuries, cause not given

Oman

84 of its 167 stories (50%) were about people being harmed, usually 11%. Reports of people killed ran at more than ten times the usual rate (62 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as warm as the world's.

Disasters & accidents

Honduras

38 of its 46 stories (83%) were about people being harmed, usually 44%. Reports of people affected ran at about three times the usual rate (6 stories). Plane crash was named in 29 of its stories about harm, about three times usual.

Conflict & violence

New Zealand

666 of its 1,471 stories (45%) were about people being harmed, usually 27%. Reports of people affected ran at about 4 times the usual rate (139 stories). Its coverage was about 4 times as fearful as the world's.

Rights & justice

Somalia

107 of its 156 stories (69%) were about people being harmed, usually 47%. Reports of people affected ran at about twice the usual rate (33 stories). Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's. Warmth in its coverage rose to about one and a half times its own usual.

Protests & strikes

North Korea

82 of its 209 stories (39%) were about people being harmed, usually 21%. 31 of Pyongyang's 49 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of refugees ran at more than ten times the usual rate (17 stories).

Conflict & violence

Syria

292 of its 383 stories (76%) were about people being harmed, usually 70%. Idlib accounted for 150 of Syria's 292 stories about harm, carried by 121 outlets. Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's.

Also named far more than usual: hurricane in Bermuda (173 of its stories, about 4 times its usual); plane crash in Honduras (29 of its stories, about three times its usual); hiv in Malawi (34 of its stories, about 6 times its usual); flooding in Germany (47 of its stories, about 7 times its usual); wildfires in Canada (138 of its stories, about 4 times its usual).

18 in 100 stories were about harm

usually 19; 18 the day before
23 in 10018 in 10022 Apr29 Apr6 May13 May21 May22 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 10018 May: 18 in 10019 May: 18 in 10020 May: 18 in 10021 May: 18 in 100 · this day

Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 21 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 34,474 stories about harm among 191,351 counted on 21 May.

Read the day's briefing

For the second day running, the news turned to Guatemala. Stories about people being harmed made up 18 in every 100 of the day's 191,351 stories, below the usual 19. Guatemala's news was 80% about people being harmed, against a usual 43%. On 21 May 2018, a year earlier, the share was 21 in every 100, against 18 today.

Written by code from the day's numbers.

Where it happened

feelings in full →
Feelings Events Harm Warmth
Delhi, India -- attacks & violence: 229 stories, carried by 120 outlets; harsh wording in 76 in 100Buenos Aires, Argentina -- protests & strikes: 90 stories, carried by 65 outlets; harsh wording in 94 in 100Athens, Greece -- attacks & violence: 77 stories, carried by 60 outlets; harsh wording in 90 in 100Aurach, Germany -- accidents & disasters: 41 stories, carried by 40 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Khonsa, India -- attacks & violence: 60 stories, carried by 42 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Brisbane, Australia -- accidents & disasters: 50 stories, carried by 123 outlets; harsh wording in 94 in 100Roatan, Honduras -- accidents & disasters: 29 stories, carried by 52 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Belfast, UK -- attacks & violence: 59 stories, carried by 145 outlets; harsh wording in 97 in 100Cairo, Egypt -- attacks & violence: 79 stories, carried by 65 outlets; harsh wording in 95 in 100Mecca, Saudi Arabia -- attacks & violence: 64 stories, carried by 66 outlets; harsh wording in 97 in 100Slave Lake, Canada -- accidents & disasters: 55 stories, carried by 81 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Managua, Nicaragua -- protests & strikes: 63 stories, carried by 59 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Moscow, Russia -- attacks & violence: 158 stories, carried by 138 outlets; harsh wording in 96 in 100Paris, France -- people displaced: 285 stories, carried by 256 outlets; harsh wording in 87 in 100Khartoum, Sudan -- protests & strikes: 83 stories, carried by 65 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Idlib, Syria -- attacks & violence: 150 stories, carried by 121 outlets; harsh wording in 99 in 100Colombo, Sri Lanka -- attacks & violence: 149 stories, carried by 93 outlets; harsh wording in 96 in 100Jakarta, Indonesia -- attacks & violence: 241 stories, carried by 187 outlets; harsh wording in 99 in 100Wellington, New Zealand -- attacks & violence: 294 stories, carried by 225 outlets; harsh wording in 93 in 100Tripoli, Libya -- attacks & violence: 288 stories, carried by 259 outlets; harsh wording in 99 in 100Vienna, Austria -- disease & outbreaks: 262 stories, carried by 314 outlets; harsh wording in 77 in 100Tehran, Iran -- attacks & violence: 524 stories, carried by 378 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Tulsa, US -- accidents & disasters: 359 stories, carried by 385 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Oklahoma City, US -- accidents & disasters: 546 stories, carried by 400 outlets; harsh wording in 99 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 about as 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.