← 28 Aug Thursday 29 August 2019 · to 23:59 UTC 30 Aug →
What the world's news said happened to people.
Counts of coverage, not of suffering
33,598 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 Bogota (Colombia), violence in Tehran and people affected in Zambia. Iran's coverage was about twice as fearful as the world's. Over the whole world, the tone was much softer than usual.

Help and hope: reports of vaccination ran at about twice the usual rate →
Part of lifeRights & justice 29 in 100 of the stories about harm · less than usual Country that rose mostColombia 67 in 100 of its 369 stories, usually 33
RegionLatin America & Caribbean 34 in 100 of its stories, usually 30
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

Colombia

247 of its 369 stories (67%) were about people being harmed, usually 33%. Bogota accounted for 158 of Colombia's 247 stories about harm, carried by 260 outlets. 125 of Bogota's 158 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of people displaced ran at about 6 times the usual rate (28 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as warm as the world's. Anger in its coverage rose to about twice its own usual.

Conflict & violence

Iran

329 of its 794 stories (41%) were about people being harmed, usually 28%. Tehran accounted for 288 of Iran's 329 stories about harm, carried by 331 outlets. Reports of abductions ran at about 4 times the usual rate (8 stories). Its coverage was about twice as fearful as the world's.

Rights & justice

Zambia

44 of its 97 stories (45%) were about people being harmed, usually 16%. Reports of people affected ran at about 4 times the usual rate (10 stories). Poisoning was named in 12 of its stories about harm, about 4 times usual.

Disasters & accidents

Peru

54 of its 148 stories (36%) were about people being harmed, usually 12%. Reports of people killed ran at about 6 times the usual rate (37 stories).

6 more places the news pointed at
Protests & strikes

Myanmar

50 of its 63 stories (79%) were about people being harmed, usually 56%. 29 of Yangon's 32 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of arrests ran at about three times the usual rate (15 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as fearful as the world's.

Protests & strikes

Haiti

63 of its 89 stories (71%) were about people being harmed, usually 28%. 8 of Port-au-Prince's 11 stories were about protests or strikes. Its coverage was about one and a half times as fearful as the world's.

Protests & strikes

Timor-Leste

19 of its 30 stories (63%) were about people being harmed, usually 27%. 5 of Balide's 5 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of people killed ran at about twice the usual rate (17 stories).

Protests & strikes

Bolivia

28 of its 49 stories (57%) were about people being harmed, usually 44%. 4 of Otuquis' 4 stories were about protests or strikes. Accidents were named in 14 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual.

Conflict & violence

Yemen

260 of its 321 stories (81%) were about people being harmed, usually 74%. Abyan accounted for 132 of Yemen's 260 stories about harm, carried by 100 outlets. Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's.

Protests & strikes

Indonesia

193 of its 464 stories (42%) were about people being harmed, usually 35%. 63 of Jakarta's 86 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of people killed ran at about twice the usual rate (109 stories).

Also named far more than usual: ebola in Uganda (75 of its stories, about 4 times its usual); volcanic eruption in Italy (57 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); accidents in Bolivia (14 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); hunger in Cuba (12 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); malaria in Rwanda (12 of its stories, more than ten times its usual).

20 in 100 stories were about harm

usually 22; 20 the day before
31 in 10019 in 10031 Jul7 Aug14 Aug21 Aug29 Aug31 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 10017 Aug: 24 in 10018 Aug: 25 in 10019 Aug: 20 in 10020 Aug: 20 in 10021 Aug: 19 in 10022 Aug: 19 in 10023 Aug: 21 in 10024 Aug: 21 in 10025 Aug: 21 in 10026 Aug: 21 in 10027 Aug: 20 in 10028 Aug: 20 in 10029 Aug: 20 in 100 · this day

Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 29 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 33,598 stories about harm among 170,635 counted on 29 Aug.

Read the day's briefing

Reports of vaccination, a sign of help, ran at about twice the usual rate. Mentions of Ebola ran about 4 times their usual in Uganda's news. In Colombia, 67% of the news was about people being harmed, where 33% is usual. Stories about people being harmed made up 20 in every 100 of the day's 170,635 stories, below the usual 22.

Written by code from the day's numbers.

Where it happened

feelings in full →
Feelings Events Harm Warmth
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil -- accidents & disasters: 45 stories, carried by 43 outlets; harsh wording in 98 in 100Kampala, Uganda -- disease & outbreaks: 56 stories, carried by 47 outlets; harsh wording in 93 in 100Baghdad, Iraq -- attacks & violence: 74 stories, carried by 76 outlets; harsh wording in 99 in 100Sanaa, Yemen -- attacks & violence: 59 stories, carried by 45 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Tsuen Wan, Hong Kong -- protests & strikes: 53 stories, carried by 46 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Cairo, Egypt -- attacks & violence: 61 stories, carried by 69 outlets; harsh wording in 87 in 100Madrid, Spain -- accidents & disasters: 72 stories, carried by 65 outlets; harsh wording in 96 in 100Porto Velho, Brazil -- accidents & disasters: 54 stories, carried by 51 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Jakarta, Indonesia -- protests & strikes: 86 stories, carried by 72 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Toronto, Canada -- accidents & disasters: 195 stories, carried by 193 outlets; harsh wording in 80 in 100Jerusalem, Israel -- attacks & violence: 205 stories, carried by 99 outlets; harsh wording in 96 in 100Islamabad, Pakistan -- attacks & violence: 125 stories, carried by 86 outlets; harsh wording in 96 in 100Idlib, Syria -- attacks & violence: 130 stories, carried by 98 outlets; harsh wording in 99 in 100Terror Bay, Canada -- accidents & disasters: 69 stories, carried by 71 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Colombo, Sri Lanka -- attacks & violence: 74 stories, carried by 121 outlets; harsh wording in 96 in 100Coatzacoalcos, Mexico -- protests & strikes: 137 stories, carried by 141 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100New Delhi, India -- attacks & violence: 363 stories, carried by 196 outlets; harsh wording in 95 in 100Abyan, Yemen -- attacks & violence: 132 stories, carried by 100 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Northern Ireland, UK -- accidents & disasters: 109 stories, carried by 206 outlets; harsh wording in 94 in 100Kabul, Afghanistan -- attacks & violence: 146 stories, carried by 143 outlets; harsh wording in 95 in 100Bogota, Colombia -- protests & strikes: 158 stories, carried by 260 outlets; harsh wording in 99 in 100Tehran, Iran -- attacks & violence: 288 stories, carried by 331 outlets; harsh wording in 96 in 100Miami, US -- accidents & disasters: 522 stories, carried by 624 outlets; harsh wording in 94 in 100South Miami, US -- accidents & disasters: 1,069 stories, carried by 951 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 much softer than usual. Filled dot: today. Ring: usual.

● Angera little less than usual
● Warmthabout as usual
● Griefa little less than 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?

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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.