← 11 May Tuesday 12 May 2020 · to 23:59 UTC 13 May →
What the world's news said happened to people.
Counts of coverage, not of suffering
39,385 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 →

Most of the day's attention went to violence in Kabul, evacuations in Russia and protests in Niamey (Niger). Afghanistan's coverage was about 6 times as angry as the world's. Taken together, the world's news read about as usual.

Part of lifeHealth 76 in 100 of the stories about harm · less than usual Country that rose mostAfghanistan 87 in 100 of its 350 stories, usually 71
RegionEvery region about as usual
Tone of the words About as usual across the world's stories about harm

What the world's news was about today

how these are picked →
Conflict & violence

Afghanistan

303 of its 350 stories (87%) were about people being harmed, usually 71%. Kabul accounted for 251 of Afghanistan's 303 stories about harm, carried by 398 outlets. Reports of evacuations ran at more than ten times the usual rate (45 stories). Its coverage was about 6 times as angry as the world's.

Health

Russia

502 of its 1,069 stories (47%) were about people being harmed, usually 38%. Reports of evacuations ran at more than ten times the usual rate (78 stories). Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's.

Disasters & accidents

Bahamas

Hurricane was named in 24 of its stories about harm, about 4 times usual, with tropical storm. Its coverage was about one and a half times as fearful as the world's.

6 more places the news pointed at
Conflict & violence

Palestine

73 of its 120 stories (61%) were about people being harmed, usually 50%. Jenin accounted for 51 of Palestine's 73 stories about harm, carried by 63 outlets. Reports of arrests ran at about 4 times the usual rate (29 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.

Conflict & violence

Libya

29 of its 42 stories (69%) were about people being harmed, usually 57%. Tripoli accounted for 26 of Libya's 29 stories about harm, carried by 22 outlets. Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's.

Health

South Korea

229 of its 456 stories (50%) were about people being harmed, usually 44%. Seoul accounted for 133 of South Korea's 229 stories about harm, carried by 241 outlets. Reports of arrests ran at about twice the usual rate (5 stories).

Health

Australia

Reports of refugees ran at about twice the usual rate (7 stories). Ebola was named in 11 of its stories about harm, about three times usual. Anger in its coverage rose to about one and a half times its own usual.

Health

Sudan

27 of its 35 stories (77%) were about people being harmed, usually 63%. Reports of people injured ran at about twice the usual rate (5 stories).

Protests & strikes

Hong Kong

71 of its 136 stories (52%) were about people being harmed, usually 45%. 22 of Mong Kok's 34 stories were about protests or strikes.

Also named far more than usual: flooding in Somalia (13 of its stories, about three times its usual); hiv in Malawi (12 of its stories, about 7 times its usual); hiv in Poland (10 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); natural hazards in Malaysia (22 of its stories, about three times its usual); tropical storm in Philippines (30 of its stories, more than ten times its usual).

34 in 100 stories were about harm

usually 37; 34 the day before
42 in 10033 in 10013 Apr20 Apr27 Apr4 May12 May13 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 1004 May: 36 in 1005 May: 35 in 1006 May: 35 in 1007 May: 34 in 1008 May: 33 in 1009 May: 36 in 10010 May: 38 in 10011 May: 34 in 10012 May: 34 in 100 · this day

Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 12 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 39,385 stories about harm among 114,639 counted on 12 May.

Read the day's briefing

In the Bahamas' news, mentions of the hurricane ran about 4 times their usual. A year earlier, on 13 May 2019, 18 in every 100 stories were about people being harmed, against 34 today. 34 in every 100 of the day's 114,639 news stories were about people being harmed, below the usual 37. In Afghanistan, 87% of the news was about people being harmed, where 71% is usual.

Written by code from the day's numbers.

Where it happened

feelings in full →
Feelings Events Harm Warmth
Belawan, Indonesia -- accidents & disasters: 9 stories, carried by 7 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Zinjibar, Yemen -- attacks & violence: 10 stories, carried by 10 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Ludhiana, India -- deaths, cause not given: 16 stories, carried by 12 outlets; harsh wording in 88 in 100Gulf of Oman, Iran -- accidents & disasters: 8 stories, carried by 11 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Ukhia, Bangladesh -- people displaced: 8 stories, carried by 22 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Ionian Sea, -- accidents & disasters: 5 stories, carried by 6 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Bay County, US -- accidents & disasters: 7 stories, carried by 17 outlets; harsh wording in 86 in 100Hawaii County, US -- accidents & disasters: 42 stories, carried by 16 outlets; harsh wording in 88 in 100Baghdad, Iraq -- attacks & violence: 29 stories, carried by 31 outlets; harsh wording in 90 in 100Warsaw, Poland -- disease & outbreaks: 16 stories, carried by 18 outlets; harsh wording in 88 in 100Pulwama, Kashmir -- attacks & violence: 16 stories, carried by 15 outlets; harsh wording in 94 in 100Jammu, Kashmir -- attacks & violence: 55 stories, carried by 30 outlets; harsh wording in 89 in 100Kuz Kunar, Afghanistan -- attacks & violence: 10 stories, carried by 15 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Caracas, Venezuela -- attacks & violence: 19 stories, carried by 26 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Idlib, Syria -- attacks & violence: 26 stories, carried by 25 outlets; harsh wording in 92 in 100Portapique, Canada -- attacks & violence: 12 stories, carried by 37 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Mong Kok, Hong Kong -- protests & strikes: 34 stories, carried by 26 outlets; harsh wording in 97 in 100Katsina, Nigeria -- people displaced: 26 stories, carried by 30 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Smiths Lake, Australia -- deaths, cause not given: 5 stories, carried by 26 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Jenin, Palestine -- attacks & violence: 51 stories, carried by 63 outlets; harsh wording in 96 in 100Chinandega, Nicaragua -- protests & strikes: 7 stories, carried by 55 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Silesia, Poland -- disease & outbreaks: 11 stories, carried by 48 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Konarak, Iran -- accidents & disasters: 36 stories, carried by 128 outlets; harsh wording in 97 in 100Kabul, Afghanistan -- attacks & violence: 251 stories, carried by 398 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 about as 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.