← 14 Aug Thursday 15 August 2019 · to 23:59 UTC 16 Aug →
What the world's news said happened to people.
Counts of coverage, not of suffering
35,002 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 →

Protests in Sanaa (Yemen), people killed in Malaysia and violence in Baghdad drew the news. Malaysia's coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's. Over the whole world, the tone was much softer than usual.

Reports of evacuations ran at about three times the usual rate, most often about the US and Greece →
Part of lifeRights & justice 32 in 100 of the stories about harm · about as usual Country that rose mostLesotho 93 in 100 of its 168 stories, usually 17
RegionSoutheast Asia 30 in 100 of its stories, usually 26
Tone of the words Much softer than usual across the world's stories about harm

What the world's news was about today

how these are picked →
Protests & strikes

Yemen

131 of its 158 stories (83%) were about people being harmed, usually 76%. Sanaa accounted for 88 of Yemen's 131 stories about harm, carried by 78 outlets. 68 of Sanaa's 88 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of people displaced ran at about three times the usual rate (18 stories). Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's.

Health

Malaysia

457 of its 1,054 stories (43%) were about people being harmed, usually 21%. Reports of people killed ran at about 9 times the usual rate (267 stories). Hunger was named in 207 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual. Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's.

Conflict & violence

Iraq

87 of its 137 stories (64%) were about people being harmed, usually 49%. Baghdad accounted for 60 of Iraq's 87 stories about harm, carried by 145 outlets. Reports of people injured ran at about 4 times the usual rate (40 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as grief-stricken as the world's.

Disasters & accidents

Greece

119 of its 313 stories (38%) were about people being harmed, usually 24%. Reports of evacuations ran at about 8 times the usual rate (87 stories). Drownings were named in 33 of its stories about harm, about 4 times usual.

6 more places the news pointed at
Protests & strikes

Zimbabwe

228 of its 567 stories (40%) were about people being harmed, usually 26%. 123 of Harare's 153 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of abductions ran at more than ten times the usual rate (97 stories). Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's.

Protests & strikes

Uganda

100 of its 190 stories (53%) were about people being harmed, usually 40%. 21 of Kampala's 39 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of refugees ran at about twice the usual rate (10 stories). HIV was named in 35 of its stories about harm, about 5 times usual.

Protests & strikes

Hong Kong

89 of Hong Kong's 93 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of people affected ran at about 4 times the usual rate (79 stories). Tsunami was named in 12 of its stories about harm, about 5 times usual. Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's. Fear in its coverage rose to about one and a half times its own usual.

Disasters & accidents

Russia

693 of its 1,990 stories (35%) were about people being harmed, usually 28%. Reports of people injured ran at about 4 times the usual rate (296 stories). Extreme cold was named in 24 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual.

Protests & strikes

Haiti

13 of its 26 stories (50%) were about people being harmed, usually 32%. 4 of Port-au-Prince's 4 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of arrests ran at about 4 times the usual rate (7 stories).

Disasters & accidents

France

Reports of evacuations ran at about 8 times the usual rate (10 stories). Drought was named in 22 of its stories about harm, about 4 times usual. Its coverage was about one and a half times as fearful as the world's.

Also named far more than usual: typhoon in Japan (132 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); hiv in Uganda (35 of its stories, about 5 times its usual); ebola in Burundi (11 of its stories, about three times its usual); hiv in Mali (13 of its stories, about 10 times its usual); natural hazards in Iceland (10 of its stories, about 4 times its usual).

21 in 100 stories were about harm

usually 22; 20 the day before
31 in 10019 in 10017 Jul24 Jul31 Jul7 Aug15 Aug17 Jul: 22 in 10018 Jul: 22 in 10019 Jul: 21 in 10020 Jul: 21 in 10021 Jul: 21 in 10022 Jul: 21 in 10023 Jul: 20 in 10024 Jul: 19 in 10025 Jul: 19 in 10026 Jul: 19 in 10027 Jul: 22 in 10028 Jul: 23 in 10029 Jul: 22 in 10030 Jul: 21 in 10031 Jul: 20 in 1001 Aug: 20 in 1002 Aug: 21 in 1003 Aug: 25 in 1004 Aug: 31 in 1005 Aug: 24 in 1006 Aug: 22 in 1007 Aug: 23 in 1008 Aug: 22 in 1009 Aug: 22 in 10010 Aug: 26 in 10011 Aug: 26 in 10012 Aug: 22 in 10013 Aug: 21 in 10014 Aug: 20 in 10015 Aug: 21 in 100 · this day

Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 15 Aug. 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 35,002 stories about harm among 163,443 counted on 15 Aug.

Read the day's briefing

Mentions of the hunger ran more than ten times their usual in Malaysia's news. of the day's 163,443 news stories, 21 in every 100 were about people being harmed, as usual. Reports of evacuations ran at about three times the usual rate, most often about the US and Greece. Yemen's news was 83% about people being harmed, against a usual 76%. A year earlier, on 15 August 2018, 21 in every 100 stories were about people being harmed, the same as today.

Written by code from the day's numbers.

Where it happened

feelings in full →
Feelings Events Harm Warmth
Rome, Italy -- accidents & disasters: 73 stories, carried by 60 outlets; harsh wording in 89 in 100Bangkok, Thailand -- attacks & violence: 53 stories, carried by 47 outlets; harsh wording in 98 in 100Mount Everest, Nepal -- deaths, cause not given: 64 stories, carried by 68 outlets; harsh wording in 81 in 100Kabul, Afghanistan -- attacks & violence: 69 stories, carried by 60 outlets; harsh wording in 97 in 100Tripoli, Libya -- attacks & violence: 63 stories, carried by 61 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Islamabad, Pakistan -- attacks & violence: 142 stories, carried by 84 outlets; harsh wording in 89 in 100Saint-Raphael, France -- attacks & violence: 24 stories, carried by 54 outlets; harsh wording in 92 in 100Hiroshima, Japan -- accidents & disasters: 62 stories, carried by 61 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100British Isles, UK -- accidents & disasters: 5 stories, carried by 67 outlets; harsh wording in 80 in 100Ural, Russia -- accidents & disasters: 53 stories, carried by 101 outlets; harsh wording in 62 in 100Sanaa, Yemen -- protests & strikes: 88 stories, carried by 78 outlets; harsh wording in 97 in 100Bascos, Spain -- protests & strikes: 10 stories, carried by 76 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, Hong Kong -- protests & strikes: 93 stories, carried by 73 outlets; harsh wording in 99 in 100Tokyo, Japan -- accidents & disasters: 183 stories, carried by 185 outlets; harsh wording in 81 in 100Harare, Zimbabwe -- protests & strikes: 153 stories, carried by 105 outlets; harsh wording in 95 in 100Athens, Greece -- accidents & disasters: 85 stories, carried by 99 outlets; harsh wording in 99 in 100Idlib, Syria -- attacks & violence: 157 stories, carried by 134 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Baghdad, Iraq -- attacks & violence: 60 stories, carried by 145 outlets; harsh wording in 98 in 100Lampedusa, Italy -- accidents & disasters: 156 stories, carried by 157 outlets; harsh wording in 99 in 100Dusun, Malaysia -- disease & outbreaks: 178 stories, carried by 261 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Moscow, Russia -- accidents & disasters: 432 stories, carried by 352 outlets; harsh wording in 97 in 100Beijing, China -- protests & strikes: 508 stories, carried by 475 outlets; harsh wording in 99 in 100Dayton, US -- attacks & violence: 500 stories, carried by 541 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Philadelphia, US -- attacks & violence: 2,320 stories, carried by 1,477 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 much 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.