← 26 Aug Thursday 27 August 2020 · to 23:59 UTC 28 Aug →
What the world's news said happened to people.
Counts of coverage, not of suffering
30,458 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 a disaster in Grand Sable, people injured in New Zealand and protests in Monrovia (Liberia). Mauritius' coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's. Over the whole world, the tone was about as usual.

Reports of evacuations ran at about twice the usual rate, most often about the US and the UK →
Part of lifeHealth 51 in 100 of the stories about harm · much less than usual Country that rose mostNew Zealand 38 in 100 of its 1,168 stories, usually 25
RegionOceania 31 in 100 of its stories, usually 29
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 →
Disasters & accidents

Mauritius

47 of its 61 stories (77%) were about people being harmed, usually 67%. Grand Sable accounted for 31 of Mauritius' 47 stories about harm, carried by 39 outlets. Reports of people killed ran at about 8 times the usual rate (34 stories). Illness was named in 14 of its stories about harm, about 5 times usual. Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's.

Conflict & violence

New Zealand

445 of its 1,168 stories (38%) were about people being harmed, usually 25%. Reports of people injured ran at about 5 times the usual rate (46 stories). Poisoning was named in 24 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual. Its coverage was about twice as fearful as the world's. Anger in its coverage rose to about three times its own usual.

Protests & strikes

Liberia

39 of its 75 stories (52%) were about people being harmed, usually 35%. 14 of Monrovia's 24 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of arrests ran at about twice the usual rate (5 stories). Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's. Fear in its coverage rose to about one and a half times its own usual.

Health

South Korea

216 of its 450 stories (48%) were about people being harmed, usually 37%. Seoul accounted for 141 of South Korea's 216 stories about harm, carried by 274 outlets. Typhoon was named in 36 of its stories about harm, about 4 times usual, with storms, tropical storm and tornadoes.

6 more places the news pointed at
Disasters & accidents

Pakistan

298 of its 719 stories (41%) were about people being harmed, usually 35%. Reports of evacuations ran at about 6 times the usual rate (8 stories). Drownings were named in 15 of its stories about harm, about three times usual. Its coverage was about one and a half times as fearful as the world's.

Protests & strikes

Lithuania

25 of its 43 stories (58%) were about people being harmed, usually 30%. 3 of Vilnius' 6 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of arrests ran at more than ten times the usual rate (9 stories).

Disasters & accidents

Afghanistan

Reports of people affected ran at about 5 times the usual rate (42 stories). Heavy rain was named in 26 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual, with drought. Its coverage was about three times as grief-stricken as the world's.

Protests & strikes

Belarus

Minsk accounted for 99 of Belarus' 128 stories about harm, carried by 180 outlets. 89 of Minsk's 99 stories were about protests or strikes. Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's.

Rights & justice

Benin

11 of its 21 stories (52%) were about people being harmed, usually 17%. Reports of people killed ran at about three times the usual rate (7 stories).

Rights & justice

Myanmar

23 of its 38 stories (61%) were about people being harmed, usually 41%. Reports of refugees ran at about twice the usual rate (5 stories).

Also named far more than usual: typhoon in North Korea (20 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); heavy rain in Afghanistan (26 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); landslides in Kashmir (15 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); storm surge in US (1267 of its stories, about 7 times its usual); drownings in Pakistan (15 of its stories, about three times its usual).

29 in 100 stories were about harm

usually 29; 29 the day before
32 in 10027 in 10029 Jul5 Aug12 Aug19 Aug27 Aug29 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 1009 Aug: 32 in 10010 Aug: 29 in 10011 Aug: 29 in 10012 Aug: 28 in 10013 Aug: 28 in 10014 Aug: 28 in 10015 Aug: 29 in 10016 Aug: 31 in 10017 Aug: 28 in 10018 Aug: 27 in 10019 Aug: 28 in 10020 Aug: 27 in 10021 Aug: 28 in 10022 Aug: 30 in 10023 Aug: 31 in 10024 Aug: 29 in 10025 Aug: 28 in 10026 Aug: 29 in 10027 Aug: 29 in 100 · this day

Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 27 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 30,458 stories about harm among 106,494 counted on 27 Aug.

Read the day's briefing

Reports of evacuations ran at about twice the usual rate, most often about the US and the UK. of the day's 106,494 news stories, 29 in every 100 were about people being harmed, as usual. A year earlier, on 28 August 2019, 20 in every 100 stories were about people being harmed, against 29 today. Mauritius' news was 77% about people being harmed, against a usual 67%.

Written by code from the day's numbers.

Where it happened

feelings in full →
Feelings Events Harm Warmth
Jolo, Philippines -- attacks & violence: 12 stories, carried by 9 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Ankara, Türkiye -- attacks & violence: 24 stories, carried by 24 outlets; harsh wording in 79 in 100Gwoza, Nigeria -- attacks & violence: 14 stories, carried by 14 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Paremoremo, New Zealand -- attacks & violence: 22 stories, carried by 35 outlets; harsh wording in 91 in 100Lake Chad, Nigeria -- attacks & violence: 15 stories, carried by 14 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Khartoum, Sudan -- accidents & disasters: 16 stories, carried by 32 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Baghdad, Iraq -- attacks & violence: 17 stories, carried by 27 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Tripoli, Libya -- protests & strikes: 12 stories, carried by 25 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Balakot, Pakistan -- attacks & violence: 14 stories, carried by 18 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Jeju, South Korea -- accidents & disasters: 12 stories, carried by 32 outlets; harsh wording in 83 in 100Pyongyang, North Korea -- accidents & disasters: 16 stories, carried by 35 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Kabul, Afghanistan -- accidents & disasters: 54 stories, carried by 70 outlets; harsh wording in 87 in 100Yuen Long, Hong Kong -- protests & strikes: 49 stories, carried by 54 outlets; harsh wording in 90 in 100Karachi, Pakistan -- accidents & disasters: 103 stories, carried by 50 outlets; harsh wording in 92 in 100Port-au-Prince, Haiti -- accidents & disasters: 8 stories, carried by 77 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Grand Sable, Mauritius -- accidents & disasters: 31 stories, carried by 39 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Llangennech, UK -- accidents & disasters: 30 stories, carried by 96 outlets; harsh wording in 87 in 100Jerusalem, Israel -- attacks & violence: 62 stories, carried by 132 outlets; harsh wording in 94 in 100Bamako, Mali -- attacks & violence: 52 stories, carried by 77 outlets; harsh wording in 90 in 100Beirut, Lebanon -- attacks & violence: 160 stories, carried by 231 outlets; harsh wording in 94 in 100Parwan, Afghanistan -- accidents & disasters: 51 stories, carried by 80 outlets; harsh wording in 98 in 100Minsk, Belarus -- protests & strikes: 99 stories, carried by 180 outlets; harsh wording in 94 in 100Kenosha, US -- protests & strikes: 830 stories, carried by 1,091 outlets; harsh wording in 99 in 100Lake Charles, US -- accidents & disasters: 672 stories, carried by 1,143 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?

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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.