← 31 Mar Wednesday 1 April 2020 · to 23:59 UTC 2 Apr →
What the world's news said happened to people.
Counts of coverage, not of suffering
50,509 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 news turned to people killed in Saudi Arabia, people injured in Somalia and illness in Tehran. Somalia's coverage was about three times as grief-stricken as the world's. Language across the world's news ran softer than usual.

Part of lifeHealth 85 in 100 of the stories about harm · much more than usual Country that rose mostTurkmenistan 73 in 100 of its 51 stories, usually 24
RegionSub-Saharan Africa 53 in 100 of its stories, usually 42
Tone of the words Softer than usual across the world's stories about harm

What the world's news was about today

how these are picked →
Health

Saudi Arabia

215 of its 354 stories (61%) were about people being harmed, usually 48%. Reports of people killed ran at about twice the usual rate (94 stories). Flu was named in 21 of its stories about harm, about 6 times usual, with ebola. Its coverage was about one and a half times as angry as the world's.

Conflict & violence

Somalia

66 of its 94 stories (70%) were about people being harmed, usually 57%. Reports of people injured ran at about 4 times the usual rate (29 stories). Its coverage was about three times as grief-stricken as the world's.

Health

Iran

Tehran accounted for 122 of Iran's 247 stories about harm, carried by 150 outlets. Reports of people injured ran at about twice the usual rate (13 stories). Flooding was named in 11 of its stories about harm, about three times usual, with heavy rain. Its coverage was about three times as angry as the world's.

Health

Nigeria

913 of its 1,497 stories (61%) were about people being harmed, usually 43%. Reports of refugees ran at about three times the usual rate (8 stories). Tuberculosis was named in 23 of its stories about harm, about three times usual.

6 more places the news pointed at
Health

Russia

470 of its 1,015 stories (46%) were about people being harmed, usually 35%. Reports of people killed ran at about twice the usual rate (167 stories). Ebola was named in 14 of its stories about harm, about three times usual.

Health

Israel

361 of its 638 stories (57%) were about people being harmed, usually 47%. Reports of arrests ran at about three times the usual rate (53 stories). Wildfires were named in 27 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual, with polio.

Health

United Arab Emirates

119 of its 285 stories (42%) were about people being harmed, usually 31%. Dubai accounted for 102 of the United Arab Emirates' 119 stories about harm, carried by 43 outlets. Reports of evacuations ran at more than ten times the usual rate (8 stories).

Health

Azerbaijan

48 of its 99 stories (48%) were about people being harmed, usually 37%. Reports of people displaced ran at more than ten times the usual rate (6 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as angry as the world's.

Health

Belgium

98 of its 197 stories (50%) were about people being harmed, usually 41%. Brussels accounted for 64 of Belgium's 98 stories about harm, carried by 60 outlets. Its coverage was about one and a half times as grief-stricken as the world's.

Health

Guam

64 of its 140 stories (46%) were about people being harmed, usually 36%. Reports of people killed ran at about twice the usual rate (14 stories). Grief in its coverage rose to about one and a half times its own usual.

Also named far more than usual: natural hazards in Malaysia (25 of its stories, about three times its usual); wildfires in Israel (27 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); hunger in Thailand (10 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); plague in Germany (14 of its stories, about 7 times its usual); natural hazards in Japan (15 of its stories, about 4 times its usual).

40 in 100 stories were about harm

usually 35; 40 the day before
44 in 10025 in 1003 Mar10 Mar17 Mar24 Mar1 Apr3 Mar: 25 in 1004 Mar: 25 in 1005 Mar: 25 in 1006 Mar: 26 in 1007 Mar: 27 in 1008 Mar: 28 in 1009 Mar: 27 in 10010 Mar: 28 in 10011 Mar: 29 in 10012 Mar: 31 in 10013 Mar: 33 in 10014 Mar: 36 in 10015 Mar: 37 in 10016 Mar: 37 in 10017 Mar: 38 in 10018 Mar: 39 in 10019 Mar: 40 in 10020 Mar: 40 in 10021 Mar: 41 in 10022 Mar: 43 in 10023 Mar: 40 in 10024 Mar: 40 in 10025 Mar: 41 in 10026 Mar: 41 in 10027 Mar: 41 in 10028 Mar: 43 in 10029 Mar: 44 in 10030 Mar: 41 in 10031 Mar: 40 in 1001 Apr: 40 in 100 · this day

Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 1 Apr. 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 50,509 stories about harm among 127,110 counted on 1 Apr.

Read the day's briefing

Stories about people being harmed made up 40 in every 100 of the day's 127,110 stories, above the usual 35. Mentions of the flu ran about 6 times their usual in Saudi Arabia's news. A year earlier, on 2 April 2019, 18 in every 100 stories were about people being harmed, against 40 today. Saudi Arabia stood out: 61% of its news was about people being harmed, usually 48%. Over March, 35 in every 100 stories were about people being harmed, against 20 in March 2019.

Written by code from the day's numbers.

Where it happened

feelings in full →
Feelings Events Harm Warmth
Buyo, Malaysia -- accidents & disasters: 24 stories, carried by 2 outlets; harsh wording in 25 in 100Gippsland, Australia -- accidents & disasters: 6 stories, carried by 6 outlets; harsh wording in 50 in 100Killarney, Ireland -- accidents & disasters: 5 stories, carried by 5 outlets; harsh wording in 80 in 100Reykjavik, Iceland -- accidents & disasters: 6 stories, carried by 5 outlets; harsh wording in 67 in 100Jenin, Palestine -- attacks & violence: 9 stories, carried by 4 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Yangon, Myanmar -- attacks & violence: 10 stories, carried by 8 outlets; harsh wording in 70 in 100Oromo, Ethiopia -- protests & strikes: 5 stories, carried by 5 outlets; harsh wording in 80 in 100Artsakh, Azerbaijan -- attacks & violence: 5 stories, carried by 4 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Banihal, Kashmir -- attacks & violence: 9 stories, carried by 8 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Brasilia, Brazil -- protests & strikes: 11 stories, carried by 8 outlets; harsh wording in 73 in 100Okinawa, Japan -- attacks & violence: 7 stories, carried by 7 outlets; harsh wording in 86 in 100Gurbulak, Türkiye -- attacks & violence: 6 stories, carried by 6 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Brazzaville, Congo -- deaths, cause not given: 8 stories, carried by 11 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Oatlands, Australia -- accidents & disasters: 9 stories, carried by 14 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Red River, Canada -- accidents & disasters: 10 stories, carried by 9 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Sichuan, China -- accidents & disasters: 12 stories, carried by 13 outlets; harsh wording in 83 in 100Bushehr, Iran -- accidents & disasters: 9 stories, carried by 10 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Prince Albert, Canada -- deaths, cause not given: 16 stories, carried by 24 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Xichang, China -- accidents & disasters: 8 stories, carried by 28 outlets; harsh wording in 75 in 100Mogadishu, Somalia -- attacks & violence: 26 stories, carried by 56 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Borah Peak, US -- accidents & disasters: 12 stories, carried by 58 outlets; harsh wording in 92 in 100Kabul, Afghanistan -- attacks & violence: 84 stories, carried by 144 outlets; harsh wording in 95 in 100Boise, US -- accidents & disasters: 126 stories, carried by 383 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 softer than usual. Filled dot: today. Ring: usual.

● Angera little less than usual
● Warmthabout as usual
● Griefa little more 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.