← 2 May Sunday 3 May 2020 · to 23:59 UTC 4 May →
What the world's news said happened to people.
Counts of coverage, not of suffering
20,884 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 drownings in Afghanistan, violence in Handwara and arrests in Egypt. Kashmir's coverage was about three times as fearful as the world's. Across the world, the tone of the words was much harsher than usual.

Reports of abductions ran at about three times the usual rate, most often about Kashmir and Nigeria → Help and hope: reports of people freed or reunited ran at about three times the usual rate →
Part of lifeHealth 75 in 100 of the stories about harm · much less than usual Country that rose mostKashmir 83 in 100 of its 250 stories, usually 63
RegionCentral Asia 72 in 100 of its stories, usually 41
Tone of the words Much harsher than usual across the world's stories about harm

What the world's news was about today

how these are picked →
Rights & justice

Afghanistan

121 of its 147 stories (82%) were about people being harmed, usually 69%. Kabul accounted for 46 of Afghanistan's 121 stories about harm, carried by 248 outlets. Reports of people affected ran at about twice the usual rate (22 stories). Drownings were named in 23 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual. Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's.

Conflict & violence

Kashmir

207 of its 250 stories (83%) were about people being harmed, usually 63%. Handwara accounted for 126 of Kashmir's 207 stories about harm, carried by 52 outlets. Reports of abductions ran at more than ten times the usual rate (22 stories). Its coverage was about three times as fearful as the world's.

Health

Egypt

95 of its 166 stories (57%) were about people being harmed, usually 48%. Reports of arrests ran at about 4 times the usual rate (26 stories). Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's.

6 more places the news pointed at
Conflict & violence

Venezuela

81 of its 113 stories (72%) were about people being harmed, usually 51%. Reports of people injured ran at about 4 times the usual rate (33 stories). Tuberculosis was named in 11 of its stories about harm, about 7 times usual. Its coverage was about one and a half times as grief-stricken as the world's.

Conflict & violence

Iraq

62 of its 94 stories (66%) were about people being harmed, usually 54%. Reports of people injured ran at about three times the usual rate (22 stories). Its coverage was about three times as angry as the world's.

Health

Russia

173 of its 383 stories (45%) were about people being harmed, usually 39%. Moscow accounted for 115 of Russia's 173 stories about harm, carried by 292 outlets. Its coverage was about one and a half times as grief-stricken as the world's.

Rights & justice

Somalia

28 of its 35 stories (80%) were about people being harmed, usually 68%. Reports of arrests ran at about twice the usual rate (6 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as angry as the world's.

Health

Israel

Jerusalem accounted for 150 of Israel's 246 stories about harm, carried by 125 outlets. Reports of arrests ran at about three times the usual rate (57 stories). Diphtheria was named in 27 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual, with measles, polio and rubella.

Disasters & accidents

Bahamas

16 of its 27 stories (59%) were about people being harmed, usually 42%. Reports of people affected ran at about 4 times the usual rate (7 stories).

Also named far more than usual: diphtheria in Israel (27 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); tuberculosis in Venezuela (11 of its stories, about 7 times its usual); heavy rain in New Zealand (14 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); cyclone in Canada (13 of its stories, about 4 times its usual); diphtheria in China (10 of its stories, more than ten times its usual).

38 in 100 stories were about harm

usually 39; 37 the day before
44 in 10035 in 1004 Apr11 Apr18 Apr25 Apr3 May4 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 1003 May: 38 in 100 · this day

Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 3 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 20,884 stories about harm among 54,622 counted on 3 May.

Read the day's briefing

On the side of help, reports of people freed or reunited ran at about three times the usual rate. Stories about people being harmed made up 38 in every 100 of the day's 54,622 stories, as usual. Mentions of drownings ran more than ten times their usual in Afghanistan's news. Abductions were reported at about three times the usual rate, most often about Kashmir and Nigeria. A year earlier, on 4 May 2019, 21 in every 100 stories were about people being harmed, against 38 today. This week the news turned most often to Syria, 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
Roscommon, Ireland -- deaths, cause not given: 6 stories, carried by 5 outlets; harsh wording in 83 in 100Nassau, Bahamas -- accidents & disasters: 12 stories, carried by 8 outlets; harsh wording in 75 in 100Nzoia, Kenya -- accidents & disasters: 9 stories, carried by 7 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Bir al-Abd, Egypt -- attacks & violence: 5 stories, carried by 4 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Muko, Uganda -- accidents & disasters: 5 stories, carried by 5 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Beer Sheva, Israel -- disease & outbreaks: 9 stories, carried by 8 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Westport, New Zealand -- accidents & disasters: 8 stories, carried by 6 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Balkh, Afghanistan -- attacks & violence: 5 stories, carried by 6 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Tripoli, Libya -- attacks & violence: 13 stories, carried by 14 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Kirkuk, Iraq -- attacks & violence: 8 stories, carried by 8 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Lashkar, India -- attacks & violence: 5 stories, carried by 7 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Kupwara, Kashmir -- attacks & violence: 15 stories, carried by 12 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Portapique, Canada -- attacks & violence: 5 stories, carried by 23 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Sardoba, Uzbekistan -- accidents & disasters: 13 stories, carried by 22 outlets; harsh wording in 92 in 100Waziristan, Pakistan -- protests & strikes: 10 stories, carried by 30 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Damascus, Syria -- protests & strikes: 16 stories, carried by 50 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Fort Mcmurray, Canada -- accidents & disasters: 22 stories, carried by 58 outlets; harsh wording in 86 in 100Columbus, US -- protests & strikes: 56 stories, carried by 80 outlets; harsh wording in 77 in 100Handwara, Kashmir -- attacks & violence: 126 stories, carried by 52 outlets; harsh wording in 99 in 100Guanare, Venezuela -- protests & strikes: 23 stories, carried by 53 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Baghdad, Iraq -- attacks & violence: 28 stories, carried by 89 outlets; harsh wording in 96 in 100Orange County, US -- protests & strikes: 77 stories, carried by 143 outlets; harsh wording in 95 in 100Jerusalem, Israel -- disease & outbreaks: 150 stories, carried by 125 outlets; harsh wording in 89 in 100Caracas, Venezuela -- attacks & violence: 31 stories, carried by 174 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 much harsher than usual. Filled dot: today. Ring: usual.

● Angera little more 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.