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What the world's news said happened to people.
Counts of coverage, not of suffering
17,606 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 drownings in Mauritius, violence in Caracas and plane crash in India. Poland's coverage was about one and a half times as angry as the world's. Everywhere we counted, the words were much harsher than usual.

Help and hope: reports of people freed or reunited ran at about one and a half times the usual rate →
Part of lifeHealth 54 in 100 of the stories about harm · much less than usual Country that rose mostMauritius 88 in 100 of its 82 stories, usually 27
RegionMiddle East & North Africa 56 in 100 of its stories, usually 45
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 →
Disasters & accidents

Mauritius

72 of its 82 stories (88%) were about people being harmed, usually 27%. Blue Bay accounted for 48 of Mauritius' 72 stories about harm, carried by 306 outlets. Reports of evacuations ran at more than ten times the usual rate (6 stories). Drownings were named in 47 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual, with oil spill. Its coverage was about one and a half times as fearful as the world's.

Conflict & violence

Venezuela

56 of its 76 stories (74%) were about people being harmed, usually 41%. Caracas accounted for 29 of Venezuela's 56 stories about harm, carried by 171 outlets. Reports of people killed ran at about three times the usual rate (33 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as fearful as the world's. Anger in its coverage rose to about one and a half times its own usual.

Health

India

2,128 of its 4,676 stories (46%) were about people being harmed, usually 34%. Reports of people injured ran at about 7 times the usual rate (333 stories). Plane crash was named in 328 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual, with landslides. Its coverage was about one and a half times as grief-stricken as the world's.

Protests & strikes

Poland

38 of its 73 stories (52%) were about people being harmed, usually 35%. 18 of Warsaw's 24 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of arrests ran at about 8 times the usual rate (18 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as angry as the world's.

6 more places the news pointed at
Health

Jamaica

47 of its 124 stories (38%) were about people being harmed, usually 27%. Reports of people injured ran at about three times the usual rate (5 stories). Outbreaks were named in 10 of its stories about harm, about three times usual. Its coverage was about one and a half times as fearful as the world's.

Conflict & violence

Lebanon

788 of its 1,094 stories (72%) were about people being harmed, usually 65%. Beirut accounted for 774 of Lebanon's 788 stories about harm, carried by 1,055 outlets. Reports of arrests ran at about 4 times the usual rate (178 stories). Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's.

Protests & strikes

Israel

29 of Jerusalem's 47 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of people affected ran at about three times the usual rate (15 stories). Flooding was named in 10 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual. Its coverage was about one and a half times as angry as the world's.

Protests & strikes

Belarus

40 of its 59 stories (68%) were about people being harmed, usually 39%. Minsk accounted for 35 of Belarus' 40 stories about harm, carried by 37 outlets. 20 of Minsk's 35 stories were about protests or strikes.

Disasters & accidents

South Korea

67 of its 141 stories (48%) were about people being harmed, usually 35%. Reports of evacuations ran at more than ten times the usual rate (28 stories). Landslides were named in 30 of its stories about harm, about 9 times usual, with flooding.

Protests & strikes

Thailand

49 of its 111 stories (44%) were about people being harmed, usually 33%. 15 of Bangkok's 21 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of arrests ran at about 4 times the usual rate (17 stories).

Also named far more than usual: landslides in South Korea (30 of its stories, about 9 times its usual); natural hazards in New Zealand (21 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); outbreaks in Jamaica (10 of its stories, about three times its usual); earthquake in Indonesia (11 of its stories, about 4 times its usual); plague in China (43 of its stories, about 6 times its usual).

31 in 100 stories were about harm

usually 30; 29 the day before
33 in 10028 in 10010 Jul17 Jul24 Jul31 Jul8 Aug10 Jul: 30 in 10011 Jul: 32 in 10012 Jul: 33 in 10013 Jul: 31 in 10014 Jul: 30 in 10015 Jul: 29 in 10016 Jul: 29 in 10017 Jul: 30 in 10018 Jul: 32 in 10019 Jul: 33 in 10020 Jul: 30 in 10021 Jul: 30 in 10022 Jul: 30 in 10023 Jul: 29 in 10024 Jul: 29 in 10025 Jul: 31 in 10026 Jul: 33 in 10027 Jul: 29 in 10028 Jul: 29 in 10029 Jul: 28 in 10030 Jul: 28 in 10031 Jul: 29 in 1001 Aug: 31 in 1002 Aug: 32 in 1003 Aug: 29 in 1004 Aug: 29 in 1005 Aug: 29 in 1006 Aug: 29 in 1007 Aug: 29 in 1008 Aug: 31 in 100 · this day

Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 8 Aug. 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 17,606 stories about harm among 56,940 counted on 8 Aug.

Read the day's briefing

Mauritius stood out: 88% of its news was about people being harmed, usually 27%. 31 in every 100 of the day's 56,940 news stories were about people being harmed, as usual. On the side of help, reports of people freed or reunited ran at about one and a half times the usual rate. Mauritius' news mentioned drownings more than ten times as often as usual. It was the second day running that the news turned to Mauritius.

Written by code from the day's numbers.

Where it happened

feelings in full →
Feelings Events Harm Warmth
Harare, Zimbabwe -- protests & strikes: 37 stories, carried by 28 outlets; harsh wording in 86 in 100Khartoum, Sudan -- attacks & violence: 6 stories, carried by 15 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Jawf, Yemen -- attacks & violence: 6 stories, carried by 16 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Seoul, South Korea -- accidents & disasters: 32 stories, carried by 36 outlets; harsh wording in 94 in 100Tehran, Iran -- attacks & violence: 19 stories, carried by 31 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100English Channel, UK -- accidents & disasters: 20 stories, carried by 81 outlets; harsh wording in 85 in 100Minsk, Belarus -- protests & strikes: 35 stories, carried by 37 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Jeju, South Korea -- accidents & disasters: 11 stories, carried by 22 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Jerusalem, Israel -- protests & strikes: 47 stories, carried by 45 outlets; harsh wording in 94 in 100Hiroshima, Japan -- attacks & violence: 33 stories, carried by 34 outlets; harsh wording in 91 in 100Nagasaki, Japan -- attacks & violence: 5 stories, carried by 30 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Bangkok, Thailand -- protests & strikes: 21 stories, carried by 60 outlets; harsh wording in 90 in 100Louisville, US -- protests & strikes: 18 stories, carried by 89 outlets; harsh wording in 94 in 100Mogadishu, Somalia -- attacks & violence: 28 stories, carried by 44 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Wuhan, China -- disease & outbreaks: 31 stories, carried by 51 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Bohumin, Czechia -- accidents & disasters: 16 stories, carried by 52 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Warsaw, Poland -- protests & strikes: 24 stories, carried by 102 outlets; harsh wording in 96 in 100Calicut, India -- accidents & disasters: 82 stories, carried by 178 outlets; harsh wording in 95 in 100Beijing, China -- disease & outbreaks: 146 stories, carried by 201 outlets; harsh wording in 90 in 100Caracas, Venezuela -- attacks & violence: 29 stories, carried by 171 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Portland, US -- protests & strikes: 78 stories, carried by 282 outlets; harsh wording in 92 in 100Blue Bay, Mauritius -- accidents & disasters: 48 stories, carried by 306 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Beirut, Lebanon -- attacks & violence: 774 stories, carried by 1,055 outlets; harsh wording in 98 in 100Kozhikode, India -- accidents & disasters: 516 stories, carried by 574 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 much 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.