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What the world's news said happened to people.
Counts of coverage, not of suffering
14,517 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.

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The news turned to protests in Bogota (Colombia), illness in Dar es Salaam and power cuts in Albania. Colombia's coverage was about twice as angry as the world's. Across the world, the tone of the words was harsher than usual.

Part of lifeRights & justice 28 in 100 of the stories about harm · about as usual Country that rose mostAlbania 93 in 100 of its 136 stories, usually 28
RegionEast Asia 27 in 100 of its stories, usually 19
Tone of the words Harsher than usual across the world's stories about harm

What the world's news was about today

how these are picked →
Protests & strikes

Colombia

153 of its 175 stories (87%) were about people being harmed, usually 46%. Bogota accounted for 139 of Colombia's 153 stories about harm, carried by 162 outlets. 110 of Bogota's 139 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of people killed ran at about three times the usual rate (114 stories). Measles was named in 112 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual. Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's.

Health

Tanzania

184 of its 308 stories (60%) were about people being harmed, usually 26%. Dar es Salaam accounted for 130 of Tanzania's 184 stories about harm, carried by 201 outlets. Reports of people killed ran at about 6 times the usual rate (151 stories). Ebola was named in 169 of its stories about harm, about 8 times usual, with outbreaks and haemorrhagic fever. Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's. Fear in its coverage rose to about one and a half times its own usual.

Disasters & accidents

Albania

127 of its 136 stories (93%) were about people being harmed, usually 28%. Tirana accounted for 116 of Albania's 127 stories about harm, carried by 128 outlets. Reports of people injured ran at about 6 times the usual rate (106 stories). Power cuts were named in 74 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual.

Deaths & injuries, cause not given

Pakistan

392 of its 872 stories (45%) were about people being harmed, usually 36%. Reports of people injured ran at about 8 times the usual rate (145 stories). Snowstorms were named in 24 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual. Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's.

6 more places the news pointed at
Protests & strikes

Sudan

Khartoum accounted for 36 of Sudan's 45 stories about harm, carried by 52 outlets. 35 of Khartoum's 36 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of people injured ran at about three times the usual rate (16 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as grief-stricken as the world's. Anger in its coverage rose to about one and a half times its own usual.

Disasters & accidents

Trinidad & Tobago

50 of its 97 stories (52%) were about people being harmed, usually 16%. Reports of people affected ran at about twice the usual rate (5 stories). Tropical storm was named in 30 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual, with hurricane.

Rights & justice

Iraq

135 of its 176 stories (77%) were about people being harmed, usually 52%. Sinjar accounted for 94 of Iraq's 135 stories about harm, carried by 103 outlets. Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's. Warmth in its coverage rose to about one and a half times its own usual.

Protests & strikes

Egypt

136 of its 317 stories (43%) were about people being harmed, usually 27%. 81 of Cairo's 99 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of arrests ran at about 4 times the usual rate (56 stories).

Protests & strikes

South Korea

72 of its 217 stories (33%) were about people being harmed, usually 20%. 23 of Seoul's 46 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of people injured ran at about three times the usual rate (12 stories).

Protests & strikes

Kazakhstan

11 of its 37 stories (30%) were about people being harmed, usually 11%. 8 of Almaty's 8 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of arrests ran at about 4 times the usual rate (8 stories).

Also named far more than usual: typhoon in Japan (96 of its stories, about 4 times its usual); tropical storm in Trinidad & Tobago (30 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); heatwave in Monaco (15 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); cholera in Bahamas (26 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); cyclone in Mexico (21 of its stories, about 5 times its usual).

20 in 100 stories were about harm

usually 22; 22 the day before
27 in 10019 in 10024 Aug31 Aug7 Sep14 Sep22 Sep24 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 10022 Sep: 20 in 100 · this day

Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 22 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 14,517 stories about harm among 72,309 counted on 22 Sep.

Read the day's briefing

Tanzania's news mentioned Ebola about 8 times as often as usual. Colombia's news was 87% about people being harmed, against a usual 46%. A year earlier, on 22 September 2018, 23 in every 100 stories were about people being harmed, against 20 today. Stories about people being harmed made up 20 in every 100 of the day's 72,309 stories, below the usual 22. This week the news turned most often to South Korea, on 3 of 7 days; help rose on 1 of them.

Written by code from the day's numbers.

Where it happened

feelings in full →
Feelings Events Harm Warmth
Edinburgh, UK -- accidents & disasters: 23 stories, carried by 76 outlets; harsh wording in 65 in 100Melbourne, Australia -- protests & strikes: 57 stories, carried by 117 outlets; harsh wording in 44 in 100Chillaton, UK -- attacks & violence: 5 stories, carried by 62 outlets; harsh wording in 80 in 100Freeport, Bahamas -- accidents & disasters: 29 stories, carried by 34 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Baja California, Mexico -- accidents & disasters: 36 stories, carried by 38 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Khartoum, Sudan -- protests & strikes: 36 stories, carried by 52 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Moscow, Russia -- protests & strikes: 43 stories, carried by 79 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Riyadh, Saudi Arabia -- attacks & violence: 65 stories, carried by 61 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Beijing, China -- protests & strikes: 93 stories, carried by 97 outlets; harsh wording in 90 in 100Tokyo, Japan -- accidents & disasters: 87 stories, carried by 76 outlets; harsh wording in 94 in 100Khurais, Saudi Arabia -- attacks & violence: 74 stories, carried by 65 outlets; harsh wording in 99 in 100Kabul, Afghanistan -- attacks & violence: 29 stories, carried by 72 outlets; harsh wording in 97 in 100Raqqa, Syria -- attacks & violence: 56 stories, carried by 65 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Islamabad, Pakistan -- deaths, cause not given: 175 stories, carried by 159 outlets; harsh wording in 94 in 100Houston, US -- accidents & disasters: 247 stories, carried by 276 outlets; harsh wording in 67 in 100Nevada, US -- attacks & violence: 48 stories, carried by 129 outlets; harsh wording in 94 in 100Cairo, Egypt -- protests & strikes: 99 stories, carried by 104 outlets; harsh wording in 96 in 100Paris, France -- protests & strikes: 127 stories, carried by 116 outlets; harsh wording in 94 in 100Tirana, Albania -- accidents & disasters: 116 stories, carried by 128 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Bogota, Colombia -- protests & strikes: 139 stories, carried by 162 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Tehran, Iran -- attacks & violence: 145 stories, carried by 178 outlets; harsh wording in 99 in 100Dar es Salaam, Tanzania -- disease & outbreaks: 130 stories, carried by 201 outlets; harsh wording in 99 in 100Shanghai, China -- deaths, cause not given: 150 stories, carried by 238 outlets; harsh wording in 99 in 100Shatin, Hong Kong -- protests & strikes: 160 stories, carried by 262 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 harsher than 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.