← 20 Sep Saturday 21 September 2019 · to 23:59 UTC 22 Sep →
What the world's news said happened to people.
Counts of coverage, not of suffering
20,580 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 the earthquake in Albania, protests in Valletta (Malta) and people injured in South Korea. Iraq's coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's. Everywhere we counted, the words were about as usual.

Part of lifeRights & justice 31 in 100 of the stories about harm · more than usual Country that rose mostAlbania 82 in 100 of its 130 stories, usually 12
RegionCentral Asia 30 in 100 of its stories, usually 12
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 →
Disasters & accidents

Albania

106 of its 130 stories (82%) were about people being harmed, usually 12%. Tirana accounted for 83 of Albania's 106 stories about harm, carried by 74 outlets. Reports of people injured ran at more than ten times the usual rate (61 stories). Earthquake was named in 83 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual.

Protests & strikes

Malta

46 of its 76 stories (61%) were about people being harmed, usually 27%. 12 of Valletta's 20 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of arrests ran at about twice the usual rate (7 stories). Anger in its coverage rose to about one and a half times its own usual.

Health

South Korea

103 of its 246 stories (42%) were about people being harmed, usually 19%. Reports of people injured ran at about 9 times the usual rate (31 stories). Outbreaks were named in 56 of its stories about harm, about 4 times usual. Fear in its coverage rose to about one and a half times its own usual.

Conflict & violence

Iraq

112 of its 149 stories (75%) were about people being harmed, usually 51%. Karbala accounted for 79 of Iraq's 112 stories about harm, carried by 75 outlets. Reports of arrests ran at about three times the usual rate (12 stories). Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's.

6 more places the news pointed at
Conflict & violence

Iran

480 of its 1,038 stories (46%) were about people being harmed, usually 28%. Tehran accounted for 389 of Iran's 480 stories about harm, carried by 456 outlets. Reports of people affected ran at about 4 times the usual rate (25 stories). Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's.

Protests & strikes

Egypt

156 of its 361 stories (43%) were about people being harmed, usually 27%. 116 of Cairo's 129 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of arrests ran at about 4 times the usual rate (60 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as angry as the world's.

Protests & strikes

Tunisia

39 of its 60 stories (65%) were about people being harmed, usually 41%. Tunis accounted for 36 of Tunisia's 39 stories about harm, carried by 34 outlets. 30 of Tunis' 36 stories were about protests or strikes. Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's.

Protests & strikes

Kashmir

97 of its 192 stories (51%) were about people being harmed, usually 35%. 19 of Jammu's 29 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of people affected ran at about three times the usual rate (14 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as fearful as the world's.

Protests & strikes

Kazakhstan

33 of its 83 stories (40%) were about people being harmed, usually 10%. 30 of Almaty's 32 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of arrests ran at more than ten times the usual rate (33 stories).

Protests & strikes

Hong Kong

269 of its 381 stories (71%) were about people being harmed, usually 50%. Tuen Mun accounted for 242 of Hong Kong's 269 stories about harm, carried by 294 outlets. 242 of Tuen Mun's 242 stories were about protests or strikes.

Also named far more than usual: storms in Mexico (177 of its stories, about 4 times its usual); typhoon in Japan (37 of its stories, about three times its usual); natural hazards in Tanzania (19 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); illness in Chile (19 of its stories, about 5 times its usual); illness in Puerto Rico (12 of its stories, about 4 times its usual).

22 in 100 stories were about harm

usually 22; 21 the day before
27 in 10019 in 10023 Aug30 Aug6 Sep13 Sep21 Sep23 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 10020 Sep: 21 in 10021 Sep: 22 in 100 · this day

Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 21 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 20,580 stories about harm among 91,552 counted on 21 Sep.

Read the day's briefing

In Albania, 82% of the news was about people being harmed, where 12% is usual. Stories about people being harmed made up 22 in every 100 of the day's 91,552 stories, as usual. On 21 September 2018, a year earlier, the share was 20 in every 100, against 22 today.

Written by code from the day's numbers.

Where it happened

feelings in full →
Feelings Events Harm Warmth
Moscow, Russia -- protests & strikes: 52 stories, carried by 46 outlets; harsh wording in 94 in 100Tunis, Tunisia -- protests & strikes: 36 stories, carried by 34 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Hodeida, Yemen -- attacks & violence: 32 stories, carried by 30 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Meldorf, Germany -- protests & strikes: 29 stories, carried by 30 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Almaty, Kazakhstan -- protests & strikes: 32 stories, carried by 37 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Banff National Park, Canada -- deaths, cause not given: 6 stories, carried by 37 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Bogota, Colombia -- attacks & violence: 35 stories, carried by 42 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Khurais, Saudi Arabia -- attacks & violence: 58 stories, carried by 50 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Damascus, Syria -- attacks & violence: 58 stories, carried by 56 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Kabul, Afghanistan -- attacks & violence: 72 stories, carried by 63 outlets; harsh wording in 93 in 100Driel, Netherlands -- attacks & violence: 23 stories, carried by 139 outlets; harsh wording in 52 in 100Tirana, Albania -- accidents & disasters: 83 stories, carried by 74 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Karbala, Iraq -- attacks & violence: 79 stories, carried by 75 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Paju, South Korea -- disease & outbreaks: 82 stories, carried by 83 outlets; harsh wording in 98 in 100Dover, UK -- protests & strikes: 24 stories, carried by 101 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Cabo San Lucas, Mexico -- accidents & disasters: 124 stories, carried by 95 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Riyadh, Saudi Arabia -- attacks & violence: 111 stories, carried by 118 outlets; harsh wording in 98 in 100Puerto Cortes, Mexico -- accidents & disasters: 12 stories, carried by 121 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Cairo, Egypt -- protests & strikes: 129 stories, carried by 234 outlets; harsh wording in 95 in 100Bryce Canyon, US -- deaths, cause not given: 415 stories, carried by 391 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Tuen Mun, Hong Kong -- protests & strikes: 242 stories, carried by 294 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Paris, France -- protests & strikes: 304 stories, carried by 401 outlets; harsh wording in 99 in 100Houston, US -- accidents & disasters: 485 stories, carried by 518 outlets; harsh wording in 92 in 100Tehran, Iran -- attacks & violence: 389 stories, carried by 456 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 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.