← 19 Jul Saturday 20 July 2019 · to 23:59 UTC 21 Jul →
What the world's news said happened to people.
Counts of coverage, not of suffering
19,455 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 illness in Central Equatoria, the earthquake in Greece and people affected in Vatican City. Vatican City's coverage was about 4 times as grief-stricken as the world's. Everywhere we counted, the words were harsher than usual.

Part of lifeRights & justice 32 in 100 of the stories about harm · about as usual Country that rose mostSouth Sudan 98 in 100 of its 118 stories, usually 53
RegionEast Asia 32 in 100 of its stories, usually 17
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 →
Health

South Sudan

116 of its 118 stories (98%) were about people being harmed, usually 53%. Central Equatoria accounted for 111 of South Sudan's 116 stories about harm, carried by 111 outlets. Reports of people displaced ran at about 8 times the usual rate (110 stories). Ebola was named in 112 of its stories about harm, about 6 times usual. Its coverage was about one and a half times as fearful as the world's.

Disasters & accidents

Greece

135 of its 349 stories (39%) were about people being harmed, usually 23%. Athens accounted for 118 of Greece's 135 stories about harm, carried by 102 outlets. Reports of people injured ran at about three times the usual rate (45 stories). Earthquake was named in 82 of its stories about harm, about 4 times usual, with power cuts and building collapse. Its coverage was about twice as fearful as the world's.

Conflict & violence

Vatican City

41 of its 61 stories (67%) were about people being harmed, usually 29%. Reports of people affected ran at more than ten times the usual rate (40 stories). Its coverage was about 4 times as grief-stricken as the world's.

6 more places the news pointed at
Disasters & accidents

Japan

372 of its 896 stories (42%) were about people being harmed, usually 17%. Reports of people injured ran at about 5 times the usual rate (174 stories). Poisoning was named in 120 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual, with typhoon. Its coverage was about one and a half times as angry as the world's.

Disasters & accidents

North Macedonia

35 of its 48 stories (73%) were about people being harmed, usually 16%. Skopje accounted for 27 of North Macedonia's 35 stories about harm, carried by 25 outlets. Reports of people injured ran at more than ten times the usual rate (29 stories).

Disasters & accidents

Bangladesh

192 of its 332 stories (58%) were about people being harmed, usually 35%. Reports of people affected ran at about 4 times the usual rate (105 stories). Flooding was named in 62 of its stories about harm, about 4 times usual.

Conflict & violence

Iraq

113 of its 136 stories (83%) were about people being harmed, usually 58%. Reports of refugees ran at about three times the usual rate (6 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as angry as the world's.

Conflict & violence

Egypt

144 of its 346 stories (42%) were about people being harmed, usually 23%. Reports of abductions ran at about 4 times the usual rate (6 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as warm as the world's.

Conflict & violence

Germany

173 of its 486 stories (36%) were about people being harmed, usually 20%. Reports of people killed ran at about three times the usual rate (68 stories). Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's.

Also named far more than usual: drownings in Mexico (67 of its stories, about 4 times its usual); poisoning in Japan (120 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); food poisoning in Thailand (32 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); flooding in Bangladesh (62 of its stories, about 4 times its usual); volcanic eruption in Italy (32 of its stories, about 4 times its usual).

21 in 100 stories were about harm

usually 21; 21 the day before
27 in 10019 in 10021 Jun28 Jun5 Jul12 Jul20 Jul21 Jun: 20 in 10022 Jun: 23 in 10023 Jun: 23 in 10024 Jun: 21 in 10025 Jun: 20 in 10026 Jun: 20 in 10027 Jun: 19 in 10028 Jun: 20 in 10029 Jun: 21 in 10030 Jun: 21 in 1001 Jul: 20 in 1002 Jul: 20 in 1003 Jul: 21 in 1004 Jul: 20 in 1005 Jul: 21 in 1006 Jul: 21 in 1007 Jul: 23 in 1008 Jul: 20 in 1009 Jul: 20 in 10010 Jul: 20 in 10011 Jul: 21 in 10012 Jul: 21 in 10013 Jul: 24 in 10014 Jul: 27 in 10015 Jul: 23 in 10016 Jul: 21 in 10017 Jul: 22 in 10018 Jul: 22 in 10019 Jul: 21 in 10020 Jul: 21 in 100 · this day

Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 20 Jul. 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 19,455 stories about harm among 93,123 counted on 20 Jul.

Read the day's briefing

In South Sudan's news, mentions of Ebola ran about 6 times their usual. Stories about people being harmed made up 21 in every 100 of the day's 93,123 stories, as usual. South Sudan's news was 98% about people being harmed, against a usual 53%. On 20 July 2018, a year earlier, the share was 19 in every 100, against 21 today.

Written by code from the day's numbers.

Where it happened

feelings in full →
Feelings Events Harm Warmth
Seoul, South Korea -- protests & strikes: 39 stories, carried by 36 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Khartoum, Sudan -- protests & strikes: 38 stories, carried by 41 outlets; harsh wording in 97 in 100Lashkar, Pakistan -- attacks & violence: 74 stories, carried by 50 outlets; harsh wording in 84 in 100Jhargaon, Bangladesh -- accidents & disasters: 44 stories, carried by 43 outlets; harsh wording in 98 in 100Henan, China -- deaths, cause not given: 81 stories, carried by 78 outlets; harsh wording in 99 in 100Kabul, Afghanistan -- attacks & violence: 84 stories, carried by 67 outlets; harsh wording in 88 in 100Quirnheim, Germany -- attacks & violence: 19 stories, carried by 75 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Berlin, Germany -- attacks & violence: 90 stories, carried by 88 outlets; harsh wording in 86 in 100Tsuen Wan, Hong Kong -- protests & strikes: 71 stories, carried by 77 outlets; harsh wording in 99 in 100Islamabad, Pakistan -- attacks & violence: 138 stories, carried by 104 outlets; harsh wording in 85 in 100Athens, Greece -- accidents & disasters: 118 stories, carried by 102 outlets; harsh wording in 98 in 100Belgrade, -- attacks & violence: 68 stories, carried by 72 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Moscow, Russia -- protests & strikes: 107 stories, carried by 105 outlets; harsh wording in 93 in 100Bandar Abbas, Iran -- accidents & disasters: 22 stories, carried by 87 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Manchester, UK -- accidents & disasters: 78 stories, carried by 153 outlets; harsh wording in 90 in 100Great Plains, US -- accidents & disasters: 38 stories, carried by 119 outlets; harsh wording in 97 in 100Central Equatoria, South Sudan -- disease & outbreaks: 111 stories, carried by 111 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Yima, China -- deaths, cause not given: 52 stories, carried by 129 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Cairo, Egypt -- attacks & violence: 104 stories, carried by 173 outlets; harsh wording in 94 in 100Kaziranga, India -- accidents & disasters: 109 stories, carried by 141 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Mauna Kea, US -- protests & strikes: 220 stories, carried by 165 outlets; harsh wording in 98 in 100Nuevo Laredo, Mexico -- people displaced: 63 stories, carried by 190 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Kyoto, Japan -- accidents & disasters: 247 stories, carried by 306 outlets; harsh wording in 99 in 100Tehran, Iran -- accidents & disasters: 483 stories, carried by 586 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 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.