← 18 Sep Thursday 19 September 2019 · to 23:59 UTC 20 Sep →
What the world's news said happened to people.
Counts of coverage, not of suffering
35,567 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 protests in Tunis (Tunisia), violence in Kabul and a disaster in Monrovia. Afghanistan's coverage was about 4 times as grief-stricken as the world's. Over the whole world, the tone was about as usual.

Help and hope: reports of volunteers ran at about one and a half times the usual rate →
Part of lifeRights & justice 29 in 100 of the stories about harm · about as usual Country that rose mostBermuda 81 in 100 of its 224 stories, usually 28
RegionSoutheast Asia 30 in 100 of its stories, usually 25
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

Tunisia

164 of its 242 stories (68%) were about people being harmed, usually 38%. Tunis accounted for 125 of Tunisia's 164 stories about harm, carried by 103 outlets. 108 of Tunis' 125 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of people killed ran at about three times the usual rate (124 stories). Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's.

Conflict & violence

Afghanistan

621 of its 765 stories (81%) were about people being harmed, usually 73%. Kabul accounted for 286 of Afghanistan's 621 stories about harm, carried by 210 outlets. Reports of evacuations ran at more than ten times the usual rate (35 stories). Train derailment was named in 13 of its stories about harm, about 4 times usual. Its coverage was about 4 times as grief-stricken as the world's.

Disasters & accidents

Liberia

95 of its 165 stories (58%) were about people being harmed, usually 31%. Monrovia accounted for 90 of Liberia's 95 stories about harm, carried by 66 outlets. Reports of people killed ran at about 4 times the usual rate (83 stories). Its coverage was about three times as grief-stricken as the world's.

Displacement

Tonga

61 of its 84 stories (73%) were about people being harmed, usually 16%. Reports of people killed ran at about 4 times the usual rate (9 stories). Its coverage was about three times as grief-stricken as the world's.

6 more places the news pointed at
Conflict & violence

Iran

503 of its 1,127 stories (45%) were about people being harmed, usually 26%. Tehran accounted for 392 of Iran's 503 stories about harm, carried by 549 outlets. Reports of abductions ran at about 6 times the usual rate (18 stories). Its coverage was about three times as angry as the world's.

Protests & strikes

Algeria

34 of its 54 stories (63%) were about people being harmed, usually 42%. Algiers accounted for 34 of Algeria's 34 stories about harm, carried by 28 outlets. 34 of Algiers' 34 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of arrests ran at about twice the usual rate (18 stories).

Disasters & accidents

Japan

394 of its 1,804 stories (22%) were about people being harmed, usually 14%. Reports of people displaced ran at more than ten times the usual rate (17 stories). Tsunami was named in 231 of its stories about harm, about 7 times usual, with flu. Its coverage was about twice as fearful as the world's.

Protests & strikes

Sudan

89 of its 133 stories (67%) were about people being harmed, usually 58%. 51 of Khartoum's 56 stories were about protests or strikes. Cholera was named in 13 of its stories about harm, about three times usual. Fear in its coverage rose to about one and a half times its own usual.

Disasters & accidents

Bermuda

182 of its 224 stories (81%) were about people being harmed, usually 28%. Reports of people killed ran at more than ten times the usual rate (77 stories). Cyclone was named in 32 of its stories about harm, about three times usual, with power cuts.

Rights & justice

Canada

1,891 of its 6,003 stories (32%) were about people being harmed, usually 19%. Reports of people falling ill ran at about 6 times the usual rate (6 stories). Meningitis was named in 58 of its stories about harm, about 9 times usual.

Also named far more than usual: tsunami in Japan (231 of its stories, about 7 times its usual); hurricane in Mexico (321 of its stories, about three times its usual); polio in Philippines (121 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); wildfires in Malaysia (32 of its stories, about 4 times its usual); ebola in Tanzania (13 of its stories, about 6 times its usual).

21 in 100 stories were about harm

usually 22; 20 the day before
27 in 10019 in 10021 Aug28 Aug4 Sep11 Sep19 Sep21 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 1001 Sep: 27 in 1002 Sep: 25 in 1003 Sep: 24 in 1004 Sep: 23 in 1005 Sep: 22 in 1006 Sep: 22 in 1007 Sep: 24 in 1008 Sep: 24 in 1009 Sep: 21 in 10010 Sep: 20 in 10011 Sep: 21 in 10012 Sep: 20 in 10013 Sep: 20 in 10014 Sep: 23 in 10015 Sep: 22 in 10016 Sep: 20 in 10017 Sep: 19 in 10018 Sep: 20 in 10019 Sep: 21 in 100 · this day

Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 19 Sep. 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 35,567 stories about harm among 171,862 counted on 19 Sep.

Read the day's briefing

Reports of volunteers, a sign of help, ran at about one and a half times the usual rate. 21 in every 100 of the day's 171,862 news stories were about people being harmed, as usual. In Japan's news, mentions of the tsunami ran about 7 times their usual. Tunisia stood out: 68% of its news was about people being harmed, usually 38%. On 19 September 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
Algiers, Algeria -- protests & strikes: 34 stories, carried by 28 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Koroneia, Greece -- accidents & disasters: 52 stories, carried by 51 outlets; harsh wording in 96 in 100Nassau, Bahamas -- accidents & disasters: 33 stories, carried by 84 outlets; harsh wording in 91 in 100Happy Valley, Hong Kong -- protests & strikes: 46 stories, carried by 50 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Khartoum, Sudan -- protests & strikes: 56 stories, carried by 59 outlets; harsh wording in 91 in 100Monrovia, Liberia -- accidents & disasters: 90 stories, carried by 66 outlets; harsh wording in 92 in 100Riau, Indonesia -- accidents & disasters: 18 stories, carried by 56 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Kalimantan, Indonesia -- accidents & disasters: 55 stories, carried by 56 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Idlib, Syria -- attacks & violence: 151 stories, carried by 122 outlets; harsh wording in 99 in 100Yaounde, Cameroon -- protests & strikes: 6 stories, carried by 96 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Manila, Philippines -- disease & outbreaks: 167 stories, carried by 121 outlets; harsh wording in 96 in 100Tunis, Tunisia -- protests & strikes: 125 stories, carried by 103 outlets; harsh wording in 94 in 100Moscow, Russia -- protests & strikes: 153 stories, carried by 162 outlets; harsh wording in 92 in 100Punta San Telmo, Mexico -- accidents & disasters: 129 stories, carried by 121 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Pluvigner, France -- people displaced: 111 stories, carried by 149 outlets; harsh wording in 99 in 100Baja California, Mexico -- accidents & disasters: 147 stories, carried by 183 outlets; harsh wording in 99 in 100Shandon, US -- deaths, cause not given: 69 stories, carried by 196 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Qalat, Afghanistan -- attacks & violence: 180 stories, carried by 191 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Kabul, Afghanistan -- attacks & violence: 286 stories, carried by 210 outlets; harsh wording in 97 in 100Tokyo, Japan -- accidents & disasters: 261 stories, carried by 245 outlets; harsh wording in 95 in 100Jiddah, Saudi Arabia -- attacks & violence: 238 stories, carried by 317 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Riyadh, Saudi Arabia -- attacks & violence: 230 stories, carried by 389 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Tehran, Iran -- attacks & violence: 392 stories, carried by 549 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Houston, US -- accidents & disasters: 1,284 stories, carried by 1,016 outlets; harsh wording in 96 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.