← 15 Aug Friday 16 August 2019 · to 23:59 UTC 17 Aug →
What the world's news said happened to people.
Counts of coverage, not of suffering
32,934 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 day's news pointed at protests in Harare (Zimbabwe), rights and justice in Douala and people killed in Venezuela. Venezuela's coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's. In the world's news as a whole, the wording was about as usual.

Reports of refugees ran at about twice the usual rate, most often about the US and Bangladesh → Reports of abductions ran at about twice the usual rate, most often about Zimbabwe and the US →
Part of lifeRights & justice 37 in 100 of the stories about harm · more than usual Country that rose mostZimbabwe 56 in 100 of its 776 stories, usually 27
RegionMiddle East & North Africa 43 in 100 of its stories, usually 36
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 →
Protests & strikes

Zimbabwe

431 of its 776 stories (56%) were about people being harmed, usually 27%. Harare accounted for 367 of Zimbabwe's 431 stories about harm, carried by 214 outlets. 339 of Harare's 367 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of abductions ran at more than ten times the usual rate (227 stories). Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's.

Disasters & accidents

Venezuela

69 of its 136 stories (51%) were about people being harmed, usually 32%. Reports of people killed ran at about 6 times the usual rate (39 stories). Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's.

Health

Malaysia

256 of its 882 stories (29%) were about people being harmed, usually 22%. Reports of people killed ran at about three times the usual rate (112 stories). Hunger was named in 84 of its stories about harm, about 7 times usual.

6 more places the news pointed at
Protests & strikes

Palestine

499 of its 776 stories (64%) were about people being harmed, usually 37%. Ramallah accounted for 370 of Palestine's 499 stories about harm, carried by 28 outlets. 198 of Ramallah's 370 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of people injured ran at about three times the usual rate (145 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as angry as the world's.

Protests & strikes

Pakistan

578 of its 1,147 stories (50%) were about people being harmed, usually 39%. 84 of Islamabad's 165 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of people injured ran at about three times the usual rate (166 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as grief-stricken as the world's.

Protests & strikes

El Salvador

30 of its 37 stories (81%) were about people being harmed, usually 50%. 11 of el Carmen's 11 stories were about protests or strikes. Respiratory illness was named in 11 of its stories about harm, about 8 times usual.

Protests & strikes

Myanmar

55 of its 72 stories (76%) were about people being harmed, usually 58%. 20 of Dawei's 20 stories were about protests or strikes. Its coverage was about one and a half times as angry as the world's.

Disasters & accidents

Qatar

27 of its 97 stories (28%) were about people being harmed, usually 14%. Reports of people killed ran at about 9 times the usual rate (24 stories). Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's.

Protests & strikes

Kazakhstan

23 of its 95 stories (24%) were about people being harmed, usually 14%. 20 of Almaty's 21 stories were about protests or strikes. Its coverage was about one and a half times as fearful as the world's.

Also named far more than usual: flooding in Indonesia (37 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); natural hazards in Puerto Rico (20 of its stories, about 5 times its usual); volcanic eruption in Ukraine (16 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); typhoon in Japan (37 of its stories, about 4 times its usual); respiratory illness in El Salvador (11 of its stories, about 8 times its usual).

21 in 100 stories were about harm

usually 22; 21 the day before
31 in 10019 in 10018 Jul25 Jul1 Aug8 Aug16 Aug18 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 10016 Aug: 21 in 100 · this day

Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 16 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 32,934 stories about harm among 156,970 counted on 16 Aug.

Read the day's briefing

Refugees were reported at about twice the usual rate, most often about the US and Bangladesh. Stories about people being harmed made up 21 in every 100 of the day's 156,970 stories, as usual. Zimbabwe's news was 56% about people being harmed, against a usual 27%. A year earlier, on 16 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
Baghdad, Iraq -- attacks & violence: 33 stories, carried by 32 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Sanaa, Yemen -- protests & strikes: 35 stories, carried by 33 outlets; harsh wording in 97 in 100Lampedusa, Italy -- people displaced: 91 stories, carried by 73 outlets; harsh wording in 92 in 100Idlib, Syria -- attacks & violence: 87 stories, carried by 68 outlets; harsh wording in 99 in 100Rajgarh, India -- accidents & disasters: 14 stories, carried by 73 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Jammu, Kashmir -- attacks & violence: 87 stories, carried by 95 outlets; harsh wording in 86 in 100Islamabad, Pakistan -- protests & strikes: 165 stories, carried by 126 outlets; harsh wording in 95 in 100Manchester, UK -- attacks & violence: 121 stories, carried by 178 outlets; harsh wording in 87 in 100Tehran, Iran -- attacks & violence: 121 stories, carried by 107 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Lake Chad, Nigeria -- attacks & violence: 7 stories, carried by 81 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Moscow, Russia -- deaths, cause not given: 318 stories, carried by 252 outlets; harsh wording in 93 in 100Thule Air Base, Greenland -- accidents & disasters: 44 stories, carried by 91 outlets; harsh wording in 82 in 100Northern Ireland, UK -- accidents & disasters: 87 stories, carried by 173 outlets; harsh wording in 95 in 100Morogoro, Tanzania -- accidents & disasters: 10 stories, carried by 92 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Kabul, Afghanistan -- attacks & violence: 96 stories, carried by 124 outlets; harsh wording in 98 in 100Dusun, Malaysia -- disease & outbreaks: 80 stories, carried by 137 outlets; harsh wording in 99 in 100New Delhi, India -- attacks & violence: 619 stories, carried by 360 outlets; harsh wording in 95 in 100Hung Hom, Hong Kong -- protests & strikes: 197 stories, carried by 161 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Quetta, Pakistan -- attacks & violence: 136 stories, carried by 171 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Harare, Zimbabwe -- protests & strikes: 367 stories, carried by 214 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Beijing, China -- protests & strikes: 314 stories, carried by 294 outlets; harsh wording in 99 in 100Cayuga, US -- protests & strikes: 293 stories, carried by 338 outlets; harsh wording in 99 in 100Jerusalem, Israel -- protests & strikes: 714 stories, carried by 523 outlets; harsh wording in 98 in 100Dayton, US -- attacks & violence: 341 stories, carried by 466 outlets; harsh wording in 98 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.