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What the world's news said happened to people.
Counts of coverage, not of suffering
39,095 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 →

Illness in Kabul, protests in Zagreb (Croatia) and people injured in the Central African Republic drew the news. Afghanistan's coverage was about three times as angry as the world's. In the world's news as a whole, the wording was much softer than usual.

Part of lifeHealth 79 in 100 of the stories about harm · less than usual Country that rose mostAfghanistan 83 in 100 of its 167 stories, usually 69
RegionEvery region about as usual
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 →
Health

Afghanistan

139 of its 167 stories (83%) were about people being harmed, usually 69%. Kabul accounted for 70 of Afghanistan's 139 stories about harm, carried by 191 outlets. Reports of people displaced ran at about three times the usual rate (6 stories). Hunger was named in 15 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual. Its coverage was about three times as angry as the world's.

6 more places the news pointed at
Health

Egypt

85 of its 150 stories (57%) were about people being harmed, usually 48%. Reports of people injured ran at about 4 times the usual rate (9 stories). Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's.

Protests & strikes

Finland

28 of its 54 stories (52%) were about people being harmed, usually 40%. 10 of Helsinki's 19 stories were about protests or strikes. Anger in its coverage rose to about one and a half times its own usual.

Protests & strikes

Hong Kong

8 of Mong Kok's 12 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of arrests ran at about twice the usual rate (16 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as angry as the world's.

Protests & strikes

Sierra Leone

4 of Freetown's 8 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of arrests ran at about three times the usual rate (5 stories).

Health

Greece

Athens accounted for 55 of Greece's 92 stories about harm, carried by 152 outlets. Reports of people injured ran at about twice the usual rate (5 stories).

Health

Brazil

Respiratory illness was named in 11 of its stories about harm, about three times usual. Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's.

Also named far more than usual: measles in Venezuela (11 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); respiratory illness in Brazil (11 of its stories, about three times its usual); cyclone in Canada (60 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); flooding in Japan (10 of its stories, about 5 times its usual); respiratory illness in Pakistan (10 of its stories, about 4 times its usual).

35 in 100 stories were about harm

usually 39; 35 the day before
44 in 10035 in 1002 Apr9 Apr16 Apr23 Apr1 May2 Apr: 41 in 1003 Apr: 40 in 1004 Apr: 42 in 1005 Apr: 44 in 1006 Apr: 41 in 1007 Apr: 40 in 1008 Apr: 40 in 1009 Apr: 39 in 10010 Apr: 41 in 10011 Apr: 43 in 10012 Apr: 44 in 10013 Apr: 42 in 10014 Apr: 40 in 10015 Apr: 39 in 10016 Apr: 38 in 10017 Apr: 38 in 10018 Apr: 40 in 10019 Apr: 42 in 10020 Apr: 38 in 10021 Apr: 37 in 10022 Apr: 37 in 10023 Apr: 37 in 10024 Apr: 36 in 10025 Apr: 37 in 10026 Apr: 39 in 10027 Apr: 37 in 10028 Apr: 37 in 10029 Apr: 36 in 10030 Apr: 35 in 1001 May: 35 in 100 · this day

Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 1 May. 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 39,095 stories about harm among 110,922 counted on 1 May.

Read the day's briefing

The share of stories about people being harmed was the lowest since 13 March 2020. Mentions of measles ran more than ten times their usual in Venezuela's news. of the day's 110,922 news stories, 35 in every 100 were about people being harmed, below the usual 39. On 2 May 2019, a year earlier, the share was 19 in every 100, against 35 today. Over April, 39 in every 100 stories were about people being harmed, against 19 in April 2019.

Written by code from the day's numbers.

Where it happened

feelings in full →
Feelings Events Harm Warmth
Metuge, Mozambique -- attacks & violence: 5 stories, carried by 6 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Tongatapu, Tonga -- accidents & disasters: 5 stories, carried by 6 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Polavaram, India -- people displaced: 5 stories, carried by 6 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Owerri, Nigeria -- accidents & disasters: 21 stories, carried by 16 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Balkh, Afghanistan -- disease & outbreaks: 5 stories, carried by 11 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Bern, Switzerland -- accidents & disasters: 10 stories, carried by 11 outlets; harsh wording in 90 in 100Jammu, Kashmir -- attacks & violence: 31 stories, carried by 25 outlets; harsh wording in 94 in 100Helsinki, Finland -- protests & strikes: 19 stories, carried by 34 outlets; harsh wording in 84 in 100Zagreb, Croatia -- protests & strikes: 8 stories, carried by 22 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Tripoli, Libya -- attacks & violence: 30 stories, carried by 44 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Nanaimo, Canada -- accidents & disasters: 38 stories, carried by 35 outlets; harsh wording in 84 in 100Damascus, Syria -- attacks & violence: 38 stories, carried by 45 outlets; harsh wording in 89 in 100Sao Paulo, Brazil -- disease & outbreaks: 17 stories, carried by 30 outlets; harsh wording in 94 in 100Fort Mcmurray, Canada -- accidents & disasters: 25 stories, carried by 44 outlets; harsh wording in 92 in 100Rolpa, Nepal -- attacks & violence: 8 stories, carried by 28 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Beirut, Lebanon -- protests & strikes: 36 stories, carried by 51 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Golan Heights, Syria -- attacks & violence: 15 stories, carried by 35 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Mong Kok, Hong Kong -- protests & strikes: 12 stories, carried by 63 outlets; harsh wording in 83 in 100Caracas, Venezuela -- disease & outbreaks: 20 stories, carried by 87 outlets; harsh wording in 90 in 100Manaus, Brazil -- disease & outbreaks: 15 stories, carried by 78 outlets; harsh wording in 87 in 100Lamar County, US -- protests & strikes: 13 stories, carried by 88 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Michigan, US -- protests & strikes: 204 stories, carried by 203 outlets; harsh wording in 86 in 100La Casita, Mexico -- protests & strikes: 9 stories, carried by 94 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Kabul, Afghanistan -- disease & outbreaks: 70 stories, carried by 191 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 much softer 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.