← 30 Aug Saturday 31 August 2019 · to 23:59 UTC 1 Sep →
What the world's news said happened to people.
Counts of coverage, not of suffering
22,469 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 →

Storm surge in the Bahamas, protests in Palmira (Colombia) and rights and justice in Tunis drew the news. Colombia's coverage was about one and a half times as warm as the world's. Everywhere we counted, the words were much softer than usual.

Reports of evacuations ran at about twice the usual rate, most often about the US and the Bahamas → Reports of people falling ill ran at about three times the usual rate, most often about the US and Uganda → Help and hope: reports of aid and relief ran at about twice the usual rate →
Part of lifeRights & justice 27 in 100 of the stories about harm · much less than usual Country that rose mostBahamas 67 in 100 of its 292 stories, usually 24
RegionEast Asia 26 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 →
Disasters & accidents

Bahamas

197 of its 292 stories (67%) were about people being harmed, usually 24%. Abaco accounted for 108 of the Bahamas' 197 stories about harm, carried by 94 outlets. Reports of evacuations ran at more than ten times the usual rate (31 stories). Storm surge was named in 94 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual.

Protests & strikes

Colombia

62 of its 84 stories (74%) were about people being harmed, usually 38%. 12 of Palmira's 12 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of people displaced ran at about 4 times the usual rate (13 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as warm as the world's.

6 more places the news pointed at
Disasters & accidents

Angola

13 of its 27 stories (48%) were about people being harmed, usually 20%. Reports of people killed ran at about three times the usual rate (10 stories). Road crashes were named in 11 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual. Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's.

Rights & justice

Norway

100 of its 152 stories (66%) were about people being harmed, usually 19%. Reports of arrests ran at more than ten times the usual rate (54 stories). Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's.

Health

Uganda

61 of its 96 stories (64%) were about people being harmed, usually 42%. Reports of arrests ran at about three times the usual rate (11 stories). Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's.

Conflict & violence

France

344 of its 1,031 stories (33%) were about people being harmed, usually 18%. Reports of people injured ran at more than ten times the usual rate (178 stories). Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's.

Protests & strikes

Hong Kong

595 of its 904 stories (66%) were about people being harmed, usually 51%. Hong Kong Island accounted for 466 of Hong Kong's 595 stories about harm, carried by 554 outlets. 464 of Hong Kong Island's 466 stories were about protests or strikes.

Protests & strikes

Sudan

89 of its 120 stories (74%) were about people being harmed, usually 59%. 49 of Darfur's 50 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of people displaced ran at about three times the usual rate (14 stories).

Also named far more than usual: hurricane in US (3581 of its stories, about 8 times its usual); measles in New Zealand (24 of its stories, about 7 times its usual); road crashes in Angola (11 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); landslides in Mexico (24 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); road crashes in UK (64 of its stories, about 7 times its usual).

24 in 100 stories were about harm

usually 22; 21 the day before
31 in 10019 in 1002 Aug9 Aug16 Aug23 Aug31 Aug2 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 10031 Aug: 24 in 100 · this day

Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 31 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 22,469 stories about harm among 92,277 counted on 31 Aug.

Read the day's briefing

On the side of help, reports of aid and relief ran at about twice the usual rate. Stories about people being harmed made up 24 in every 100 of the day's 92,277 stories, above the usual 22. the Bahamas' news was 67% about people being harmed, against a usual 24%. Evacuations were reported at about twice the usual rate, most often about the US and the Bahamas. A year earlier, on 31 August 2018, 20 in every 100 stories were about people being harmed, against 24 today.

Written by code from the day's numbers.

Where it happened

feelings in full →
Feelings Events Harm Warmth
Guwahati, India -- attacks & violence: 55 stories, carried by 54 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Ankara, Türkiye -- attacks & violence: 45 stories, carried by 37 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Andros Island, Bahamas -- accidents & disasters: 21 stories, carried by 31 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Haigerloch, Germany -- attacks & violence: 8 stories, carried by 41 outlets; harsh wording in 88 in 100Dhule, India -- deaths, cause not given: 118 stories, carried by 68 outlets; harsh wording in 92 in 100Sanaa, Yemen -- attacks & violence: 37 stories, carried by 38 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Caracas, Venezuela -- attacks & violence: 43 stories, carried by 41 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Glasgow, UK -- protests & strikes: 39 stories, carried by 67 outlets; harsh wording in 90 in 100Darfur, Sudan -- protests & strikes: 50 stories, carried by 49 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Istanbul, Türkiye -- attacks & violence: 56 stories, carried by 55 outlets; harsh wording in 95 in 100Rondonia, Brazil -- accidents & disasters: 53 stories, carried by 56 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Abyan, Yemen -- attacks & violence: 17 stories, carried by 101 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Warsaw, Poland -- attacks & violence: 49 stories, carried by 84 outlets; harsh wording in 96 in 100Kabul, Afghanistan -- attacks & violence: 80 stories, carried by 96 outlets; harsh wording in 98 in 100Abaco, Bahamas -- accidents & disasters: 108 stories, carried by 94 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Villeurbanne, France -- attacks & violence: 155 stories, carried by 168 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Moscow, Russia -- protests & strikes: 144 stories, carried by 131 outlets; harsh wording in 99 in 100Beijing, China -- protests & strikes: 212 stories, carried by 142 outlets; harsh wording in 96 in 100Idlib, Syria -- attacks & violence: 187 stories, carried by 138 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Tehran, Iran -- deaths, cause not given: 111 stories, carried by 238 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Kunduz, Afghanistan -- attacks & violence: 361 stories, carried by 288 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100West Palm Beach, US -- accidents & disasters: 638 stories, carried by 516 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Hong Kong Island, Hong Kong -- protests & strikes: 466 stories, carried by 554 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Miami, US -- accidents & disasters: 1,525 stories, carried by 1,058 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 much softer than usual. Filled dot: today. Ring: usual.

● Angerabout as 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

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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.