← 14 May Friday 15 May 2020 · to 23:59 UTC 16 May →
What the world's news said happened to people.
Counts of coverage, not of suffering
36,172 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 illness in Tripoli, violence in Kabul and protests in Yuen Long (Hong Kong). Afghanistan's coverage was about 6 times as angry as the world's. In the world's news as a whole, the wording was softer than usual.

Part of lifeHealth 75 in 100 of the stories about harm · less than usual Country that rose mostSlovenia 64 in 100 of its 67 stories, usually 38
RegionEvery region about as usual
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

Libya

51 of its 72 stories (71%) were about people being harmed, usually 57%. Tripoli accounted for 31 of Libya's 51 stories about harm, carried by 32 outlets. Reports of refugees ran at about three times the usual rate (9 stories). Hunger was named in 12 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual, with tuberculosis. Its coverage was about one and a half times as fearful as the world's.

6 more places the news pointed at
Health

Slovenia

43 of its 67 stories (64%) were about people being harmed, usually 38%. Reports of people killed ran at about three times the usual rate (35 stories). Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's.

Protests & strikes

Iraq

Baghdad accounted for 32 of Iraq's 52 stories about harm, carried by 68 outlets. 17 of Baghdad's 32 stories were about protests or strikes. Its coverage was about one and a half times as fearful as the world's.

Health

Philippines

Manila accounted for 182 of the Philippines' 417 stories about harm, carried by 262 outlets. Reports of evacuations ran at more than ten times the usual rate (42 stories). Typhoon was named in 117 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual, with tropical storm, cyclone and landslides.

Health

United Arab Emirates

93 of its 169 stories (55%) were about people being harmed, usually 38%. Dubai accounted for 82 of the United Arab Emirates' 93 stories about harm, carried by 52 outlets.

Health

Georgia

24 of its 36 stories (67%) were about people being harmed, usually 53%. Tbilisi accounted for 20 of Georgia's 24 stories about harm, carried by 15 outlets.

Health

Bangladesh

Reports of refugees ran at about 5 times the usual rate (79 stories). Wildfires were named in 13 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual.

Also named far more than usual: typhoon in Philippines (117 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); dengue in Yemen (15 of its stories, about 6 times its usual); wildfires in Bangladesh (13 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); plague in China (81 of its stories, about 4 times its usual); cyclone in India (39 of its stories, about 6 times its usual).

33 in 100 stories were about harm

usually 36; 33 the day before
42 in 10033 in 10016 Apr23 Apr30 Apr7 May15 May16 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 10013 May: 34 in 10014 May: 33 in 10015 May: 33 in 100 · this day

Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 15 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 36,172 stories about harm among 109,611 counted on 15 May.

Read the day's briefing

No day had a lower share of stories about people being harmed since 12 March 2020. the Philippines' news mentioned the typhoon more than ten times as often as usual. 33 in every 100 of the day's 109,611 news stories were about people being harmed, below the usual 36. On 16 May 2019, a year earlier, the share was 19 in every 100, against 33 today.

Written by code from the day's numbers.

Where it happened

feelings in full →
Feelings Events Harm Warmth
Dong Nai, Vietnam -- deaths, cause not given: 6 stories, carried by 8 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Crimea, Ukraine -- attacks & violence: 5 stories, carried by 5 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Kerala, India -- accidents & disasters: 16 stories, carried by 10 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Kishtwar, Kashmir -- attacks & violence: 5 stories, carried by 5 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Balasore, India -- accidents & disasters: 7 stories, carried by 9 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Idlib, Syria -- attacks & violence: 12 stories, carried by 9 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Bicol, Philippines -- accidents & disasters: 8 stories, carried by 8 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Maiduguri, Nigeria -- attacks & violence: 13 stories, carried by 16 outlets; harsh wording in 85 in 100Damascus, Syria -- attacks & violence: 24 stories, carried by 20 outlets; harsh wording in 92 in 100Adamawa, Nigeria -- attacks & violence: 17 stories, carried by 15 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Bindura, Zimbabwe -- protests & strikes: 16 stories, carried by 11 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Bamako, Mali -- attacks & violence: 5 stories, carried by 14 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Gaza, Palestine -- protests & strikes: 18 stories, carried by 18 outlets; harsh wording in 94 in 100Oslo, Norway -- attacks & violence: 9 stories, carried by 22 outlets; harsh wording in 78 in 100Tripoli, Libya -- disease & outbreaks: 31 stories, carried by 32 outlets; harsh wording in 90 in 100Marib, Yemen -- disease & outbreaks: 9 stories, carried by 13 outlets; harsh wording in 89 in 100Khorasan, Afghanistan -- attacks & violence: 6 stories, carried by 12 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Yuen Long, Hong Kong -- protests & strikes: 28 stories, carried by 33 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Cabo Delgado, Mozambique -- attacks & violence: 7 stories, carried by 28 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Baghdad, Iraq -- protests & strikes: 32 stories, carried by 68 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Sanaa, Yemen -- disease & outbreaks: 18 stories, carried by 60 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Michigan State Police, US -- protests & strikes: 15 stories, carried by 83 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Kabul, Afghanistan -- attacks & violence: 178 stories, carried by 232 outlets; harsh wording in 97 in 100Tonopah, US -- accidents & disasters: 127 stories, carried by 248 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 softer than usual. Filled dot: today. Ring: usual.

● Angerabout as usual
● Warmthabout as usual
● Griefa little less 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.