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What the world's news said happened to people.
Counts of coverage, not of suffering
23,359 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 violence in Baghdad, the tsunami in Puerto Rico and abductions in Brazil. Iraq's coverage was about 4 times as angry as the world's. Everywhere we counted, the words were harsher than usual.

Part of lifeHealth 77 in 100 of the stories about harm · much less than usual Country that rose mostPuerto Rico 87 in 100 of its 76 stories, usually 60
RegionCentral Asia 46 in 100 of its stories, usually 41
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 →
Conflict & violence

Iraq

49 of its 73 stories (67%) were about people being harmed, usually 54%. Baghdad accounted for 32 of Iraq's 49 stories about harm, carried by 44 outlets. Reports of people injured ran at about 4 times the usual rate (22 stories). Its coverage was about 4 times as angry as the world's.

Disasters & accidents

Puerto Rico

66 of its 76 stories (87%) were about people being harmed, usually 60%. Reports of people killed ran at about twice the usual rate (23 stories). Tsunami was named in 16 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual.

Health

Brazil

76 of its 138 stories (55%) were about people being harmed, usually 46%. Reports of abductions ran at more than ten times the usual rate (11 stories). Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's.

6 more places the news pointed at
Health

Chile

16 of its 34 stories (47%) were about people being harmed, usually 25%. Reports of arrests ran at about 5 times the usual rate (6 stories).

Disasters & accidents

Uzbekistan

11 of its 11 stories (100%) were about people being harmed, usually 54%. Reports of evacuations ran at more than ten times the usual rate (6 stories).

Disasters & accidents

Greece

83 of its 157 stories (53%) were about people being harmed, usually 43%. Earthquake was named in 29 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual, with tsunami.

Health

Sweden

43 of its 85 stories (51%) were about people being harmed, usually 42%. Its coverage was about one and a half times as fearful as the world's.

Health

Egypt

Reports of arrests ran at about three times the usual rate (15 stories). Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's. Anger in its coverage rose to about twice its own usual.

Protests & strikes

Botswana

3 of Gaborone's 4 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of people killed ran at about twice the usual rate (5 stories).

Also named far more than usual: earthquake in Greece (29 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); flooding in South Korea (28 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); flooding in Kenya (11 of its stories, about 4 times its usual); ebola in Japan (15 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); cyclone in Canada (29 of its stories, about 7 times its usual).

37 in 100 stories were about harm

usually 39; 35 the day before
44 in 10035 in 1003 Apr10 Apr17 Apr24 Apr2 May3 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 1002 May: 37 in 100 · this day

Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 2 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 23,359 stories about harm among 63,476 counted on 2 May.

Read the day's briefing

Mentions of the earthquake ran more than ten times their usual in Greece's news. A year earlier, on 3 May 2019, 21 in every 100 stories were about people being harmed, against 37 today. Stories about people being harmed made up 37 in every 100 of the day's 63,476 stories, below the usual 39. Iraq's news was 67% about people being harmed, against a usual 54%.

Written by code from the day's numbers.

Where it happened

feelings in full →
Feelings Events Harm Warmth
Whangateau, New Zealand -- accidents & disasters: 5 stories, carried by 4 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Sankh, India -- protests & strikes: 5 stories, carried by 4 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Qasba, Pakistan -- protests & strikes: 6 stories, carried by 7 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Damascus, Syria -- attacks & violence: 12 stories, carried by 13 outlets; harsh wording in 92 in 100Freetown, Sierra Leone -- protests & strikes: 8 stories, carried by 7 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Idlib, Syria -- attacks & violence: 6 stories, carried by 8 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Tripoli, Libya -- attacks & violence: 12 stories, carried by 13 outlets; harsh wording in 92 in 100Waziristan, Pakistan -- protests & strikes: 5 stories, carried by 10 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Samarra, Iraq -- attacks & violence: 6 stories, carried by 6 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Mehtarlam, Afghanistan -- attacks & violence: 5 stories, carried by 8 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Socotra, Yemen -- attacks & violence: 7 stories, carried by 10 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Jammu, Kashmir -- attacks & violence: 42 stories, carried by 25 outlets; harsh wording in 88 in 100Ierapetra, Greece -- accidents & disasters: 14 stories, carried by 10 outlets; harsh wording in 93 in 100Fort Mcmurray, Canada -- accidents & disasters: 10 stories, carried by 15 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Pulwama, Kashmir -- attacks & violence: 25 stories, carried by 21 outlets; harsh wording in 96 in 100Brasilia, Brazil -- protests & strikes: 13 stories, carried by 32 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Los Llanos, Venezuela -- protests & strikes: 11 stories, carried by 28 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Baghdad, Iraq -- attacks & violence: 32 stories, carried by 44 outlets; harsh wording in 97 in 100Mong Kok, Hong Kong -- protests & strikes: 13 stories, carried by 52 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Nanaimo, Canada -- accidents & disasters: 24 stories, carried by 57 outlets; harsh wording in 79 in 100Kabul, Afghanistan -- attacks & violence: 50 stories, carried by 72 outlets; harsh wording in 94 in 100Guanare, Venezuela -- protests & strikes: 22 stories, carried by 40 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Mckinley County, US -- protests & strikes: 46 stories, carried by 176 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Orange County, US -- protests & strikes: 123 stories, carried by 264 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 harsher than usual. Filled dot: today. Ring: usual.

● Angerabout as 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.