← 29 Aug Friday 30 August 2019 · to 23:59 UTC 31 Aug →
What the world's news said happened to people.
Counts of coverage, not of suffering
33,535 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 →

Most of the day's attention went to people falling ill in Uganda, protests in Wan Chai (Hong Kong) and people killed in Fiji. Uganda's coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's. In the world's news as a whole, the wording was much softer than usual.

Reports of people falling ill ran at about three times the usual rate, most often about Uganda and the US → Help and hope: reports of aid and relief ran at about twice the usual rate →
Part of lifeRights & justice 30 in 100 of the stories about harm · less than usual Country that rose mostBahamas 57 in 100 of its 238 stories, usually 21
RegionEast Asia 22 in 100 of its stories, usually 19
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 →
Health

Uganda

282 of its 392 stories (72%) were about people being harmed, usually 39%. Reports of people falling ill ran at more than ten times the usual rate (48 stories). Ebola was named in 236 of its stories about harm, about 4 times usual, with meningitis. Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's.

Protests & strikes

Hong Kong

620 of its 825 stories (75%) were about people being harmed, usually 51%. Wan Chai accounted for 235 of Hong Kong's 620 stories about harm, carried by 192 outlets. 230 of Wan Chai's 235 stories were about protests or strikes. Its coverage was about one and a half times as angry as the world's. Fear in its coverage rose to about one and a half times its own usual.

Deaths & injuries, cause not given

Fiji

46 of its 100 stories (46%) were about people being harmed, usually 20%. Reports of people killed ran at about 5 times the usual rate (40 stories). Accidents were named in 12 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual.

Conflict & violence

Venezuela

60 of its 122 stories (49%) were about people being harmed, usually 26%. Reports of people killed ran at about 5 times the usual rate (42 stories). Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's.

6 more places the news pointed at
Protests & strikes

Colombia

141 of its 235 stories (60%) were about people being harmed, usually 36%. 35 of Bogota's 66 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of people displaced ran at about 5 times the usual rate (24 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.

Protests & strikes

Mexico

323 of its 766 stories (42%) were about people being harmed, usually 32%. 119 of Coatzacoalcos' 146 stories were about protests or strikes. Drought was named in 24 of its stories about harm, about 10 times usual. Its coverage was about three times as grief-stricken as the world's.

Disasters & accidents

Hungary

28 of its 132 stories (21%) were about people being harmed, usually 7%. Reports of people killed ran at about 8 times the usual rate (26 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as fearful as the world's.

Conflict & violence

Lebanon

164 of its 369 stories (44%) were about people being harmed, usually 33%. Beirut accounted for 127 of Lebanon's 164 stories about harm, carried by 91 outlets. Its coverage was about one and a half times as warm as the world's.

Conflict & violence

Sri Lanka

133 of its 311 stories (43%) were about people being harmed, usually 32%. Reports of people injured ran at about twice the usual rate (23 stories). Its coverage was about three times as grief-stricken as the world's.

Conflict & violence

Kashmir

106 of its 269 stories (39%) were about people being harmed, usually 29%. Reports of arrests ran at about twice the usual rate (30 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as fearful as the world's.

Also named far more than usual: flooding in Egypt (51 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); measles in New Zealand (54 of its stories, about 9 times its usual); haemorrhagic fever in Rwanda (19 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); hunger in Timor-Leste (15 of its stories, about 8 times its usual); drought in Botswana (10 of its stories, more than ten times its usual).

21 in 100 stories were about harm

usually 22; 20 the day before
31 in 10019 in 1001 Aug8 Aug15 Aug22 Aug30 Aug1 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 10030 Aug: 21 in 100 · this day

Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 30 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 33,535 stories about harm among 159,540 counted on 30 Aug.

Read the day's briefing

People falling ill were reported at about three times the usual rate, most often about Uganda and the US. of the day's 159,540 news stories, 21 in every 100 were about people being harmed, below the usual 22. Reports of aid and relief, a sign of help, ran at about twice the usual rate. Uganda's news was 72% about people being harmed, against a usual 39%. On 30 August 2018, a year earlier, the share was 20 in every 100, against 21 today.

Written by code from the day's numbers.

Where it happened

feelings in full →
Feelings Events Harm Warmth
Northern Ireland, UK -- attacks & violence: 101 stories, carried by 106 outlets; harsh wording in 88 in 100Kivu, Rwanda -- disease & outbreaks: 33 stories, carried by 40 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Mangueira, Brazil -- accidents & disasters: 39 stories, carried by 41 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Great Barrier Reef, Australia -- accidents & disasters: 62 stories, carried by 62 outlets; harsh wording in 95 in 100Zinjibar, Yemen -- attacks & violence: 60 stories, carried by 47 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Zakopane, Poland -- deaths, cause not given: 40 stories, carried by 44 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Barpeta, India -- protests & strikes: 55 stories, carried by 54 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Idlib, Syria -- protests & strikes: 99 stories, carried by 93 outlets; harsh wording in 98 in 100Alexandria, Egypt -- accidents & disasters: 60 stories, carried by 63 outlets; harsh wording in 98 in 100Jerusalem, Israel -- protests & strikes: 204 stories, carried by 73 outlets; harsh wording in 98 in 100Kampala, Uganda -- disease & outbreaks: 110 stories, carried by 66 outlets; harsh wording in 96 in 100Negombo, Sri Lanka -- attacks & violence: 84 stories, carried by 86 outlets; harsh wording in 94 in 100Lahore, Pakistan -- protests & strikes: 73 stories, carried by 106 outlets; harsh wording in 97 in 100Islamabad, Pakistan -- attacks & violence: 198 stories, carried by 143 outlets; harsh wording in 95 in 100Muskoka, Canada -- accidents & disasters: 11 stories, carried by 86 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Freeport, Bahamas -- accidents & disasters: 60 stories, carried by 79 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Beirut, Lebanon -- attacks & violence: 127 stories, carried by 91 outlets; harsh wording in 90 in 100Kasese, Uganda -- disease & outbreaks: 101 stories, carried by 85 outlets; harsh wording in 98 in 100Kabul, Afghanistan -- attacks & violence: 113 stories, carried by 94 outlets; harsh wording in 99 in 100Coatzacoalcos, Mexico -- protests & strikes: 146 stories, carried by 116 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Beijing, China -- protests & strikes: 462 stories, carried by 282 outlets; harsh wording in 96 in 100Wan Chai, Hong Kong -- protests & strikes: 235 stories, carried by 192 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Florida, US -- accidents & disasters: 423 stories, carried by 497 outlets; harsh wording in 94 in 100Miami, US -- accidents & disasters: 1,929 stories, carried by 1,530 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.

● 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?

The weekly briefing · 19 Oct – 25 Oct

The week in human impact

Read the week →

Unlock a year of trends, free. Follow up to 5 countries, with a bell when their news changes, and 👍 vote for Pro — ten years of the archive, any period, daily alerts.

Create a free account

Sign in · a username, an email and a password.

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.