← 26 May Wednesday 27 May 2020 · to 23:59 UTC 28 May →
What the world's news said happened to people.
Counts of coverage, not of suffering
35,610 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 protests in Causeway Bay (Hong Kong), illness in Seoul and plane crash in Pakistan. Hong Kong's coverage was about one and a half times as angry as the world's. Language across the world's news ran harsher than usual.

Part of lifeHealth 70 in 100 of the stories about harm · much less than usual Country that rose mostChile 53 in 100 of its 73 stories, usually 26
RegionEvery region about as usual
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 →
Protests & strikes

Hong Kong

176 of its 355 stories (50%) were about people being harmed, usually 44%. 59 of Causeway Bay's 76 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of arrests ran at about twice the usual rate (62 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as angry as the world's.

Disasters & accidents

Pakistan

333 of its 574 stories (58%) were about people being harmed, usually 51%. Plane crash was named in 60 of its stories about harm, about three times usual, with plague. Its coverage was about one and a half times as angry as the world's.

6 more places the news pointed at
Health

Belgium

Brussels accounted for 50 of Belgium's 58 stories about harm, carried by 183 outlets. Reports of arrests ran at about 8 times the usual rate (11 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as fearful as the world's.

Health

Argentina

38 of its 74 stories (51%) were about people being harmed, usually 34%. Reports of people affected ran at about three times the usual rate (8 stories).

Health

Brazil

200 of its 350 stories (57%) were about people being harmed, usually 50%. Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's.

Rights & justice

Azerbaijan

26 of its 57 stories (46%) were about people being harmed, usually 35%. Its coverage was about one and a half times as angry as the world's.

Health

Bangladesh

Reports of people injured ran at about 4 times the usual rate (9 stories). Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's.

Health

Saudi Arabia

Reports of people injured ran at about 4 times the usual rate (22 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as grief-stricken as the world's.

Also named far more than usual: outbreaks in Romania (17 of its stories, about 4 times its usual); earthquake in Vanuatu (10 of its stories, about 7 times its usual); malaria in France (54 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); extreme cold in Israel (16 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); hunger in Nigeria (34 of its stories, about 10 times its usual).

32 in 100 stories were about harm

usually 35; 32 the day before
38 in 10032 in 10028 Apr5 May12 May19 May27 May28 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 10016 May: 36 in 10017 May: 37 in 10018 May: 34 in 10019 May: 33 in 10020 May: 33 in 10021 May: 32 in 10022 May: 32 in 10023 May: 34 in 10024 May: 35 in 10025 May: 33 in 10026 May: 32 in 10027 May: 32 in 100 · this day

Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 27 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 35,610 stories about harm among 111,838 counted on 27 May.

Read the day's briefing

No day had a lower share of stories about people being harmed since 12 March 2020. Romania's news mentioned outbreaks about 4 times as often as usual. A year earlier, on 28 May 2019, 20 in every 100 stories were about people being harmed, against 32 today. of the day's 111,838 news stories, 32 in every 100 were about people being harmed, below the usual 35.

Written by code from the day's numbers.

Where it happened

feelings in full →
Feelings Events Harm Warmth
Chicxulub, Mexico -- accidents & disasters: 6 stories, carried by 6 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Abaco, Bahamas -- accidents & disasters: 6 stories, carried by 6 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Kalimantan, Indonesia -- accidents & disasters: 6 stories, carried by 5 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Batemans Bay, Australia -- accidents & disasters: 5 stories, carried by 5 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Lake Chad, Nigeria -- attacks & violence: 5 stories, carried by 7 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Jamuna, Bangladesh -- accidents & disasters: 13 stories, carried by 16 outlets; harsh wording in 92 in 100Amwah, Saudi Arabia -- deaths, cause not given: 5 stories, carried by 8 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100South Island, New Zealand -- accidents & disasters: 7 stories, carried by 11 outlets; harsh wording in 86 in 100Evros, Türkiye -- protests & strikes: 6 stories, carried by 17 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Kigali, Rwanda -- attacks & violence: 22 stories, carried by 20 outlets; harsh wording in 91 in 100Maubeuge, France -- disease & outbreaks: 5 stories, carried by 32 outlets; harsh wording in 60 in 100Tripoli, Libya -- attacks & violence: 21 stories, carried by 28 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Karachi, Pakistan -- accidents & disasters: 84 stories, carried by 34 outlets; harsh wording in 93 in 100Placentia Bay, Canada -- accidents & disasters: 8 stories, carried by 36 outlets; harsh wording in 62 in 100Idlib, Syria -- attacks & violence: 31 stories, carried by 38 outlets; harsh wording in 87 in 100Madhya Pradesh, India -- accidents & disasters: 14 stories, carried by 43 outlets; harsh wording in 86 in 100Rajasthan, Pakistan -- accidents & disasters: 27 stories, carried by 27 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Jaipur, India -- accidents & disasters: 56 stories, carried by 46 outlets; harsh wording in 93 in 100Charleston, US -- accidents & disasters: 66 stories, carried by 97 outlets; harsh wording in 85 in 100Kabul, Afghanistan -- attacks & violence: 85 stories, carried by 161 outlets; harsh wording in 95 in 100Causeway Bay, Hong Kong -- protests & strikes: 76 stories, carried by 117 outlets; harsh wording in 99 in 100Paris, France -- disease & outbreaks: 144 stories, carried by 433 outlets; harsh wording in 81 in 100Minneapolis, US -- protests & strikes: 237 stories, carried by 599 outlets; harsh wording in 97 in 100Seoul, South Korea -- disease & outbreaks: 163 stories, carried by 520 outlets; harsh wording in 94 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
● 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.