← 28 Aug Saturday 29 August 2020 · to 23:59 UTC 30 Aug →
What the world's news said happened to people.
Counts of coverage, not of suffering
17,010 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 →

Protests in Berlin (Germany), violence in Pulwama and people affected in Malta drew the news. Kashmir's coverage was about three times as fearful as the world's. Everywhere we counted, the words were much harsher than usual.

Part of lifeHealth 50 in 100 of the stories about harm · much less than usual Country that rose mostSweden 61 in 100 of its 117 stories, usually 31
RegionCentral Asia 45 in 100 of its stories, usually 40
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 →
Protests & strikes

Germany

198 of its 414 stories (48%) were about people being harmed, usually 31%. Berlin accounted for 126 of Germany's 198 stories about harm, carried by 266 outlets. 99 of Berlin's 126 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of arrests ran at about 5 times the usual rate (28 stories). Flooding was named in 34 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.

Conflict & violence

Kashmir

126 of its 183 stories (69%) were about people being harmed, usually 53%. Pulwama accounted for 64 of Kashmir's 126 stories about harm, carried by 42 outlets. Reports of abductions ran at about 9 times the usual rate (6 stories). Landslides were named in 10 of its stories about harm, about three times usual. Its coverage was about three times as fearful as the world's.

6 more places the news pointed at
Protests & strikes

Mauritius

46 of its 54 stories (85%) were about people being harmed, usually 69%. Mahebourg accounted for 29 of Mauritius' 46 stories about harm, carried by 162 outlets. 18 of Mahebourg's 29 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of people killed ran at about 5 times the usual rate (36 stories). Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's.

Protests & strikes

Belarus

89 of its 138 stories (64%) were about people being harmed, usually 57%. Minsk accounted for 72 of Belarus' 89 stories about harm, carried by 183 outlets. 67 of Minsk's 72 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of people affected ran at about 6 times the usual rate (9 stories). Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's.

Protests & strikes

Sweden

71 of its 117 stories (61%) were about people being harmed, usually 31%. 17 of Stockholm's 24 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of arrests ran at more than ten times the usual rate (48 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as angry as the world's.

Protests & strikes

Libya

32 of its 53 stories (60%) were about people being harmed, usually 43%. 19 of Tripoli's 21 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of abductions ran at about 6 times the usual rate (6 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as angry as the world's.

Conflict & violence

Afghanistan

Reports of people affected ran at about three times the usual rate (19 stories). Flooding was named in 22 of its stories about harm, about 4 times usual. Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's.

Health

South Korea

95 of its 177 stories (54%) were about people being harmed, usually 38%. Seoul accounted for 65 of South Korea's 95 stories about harm, carried by 86 outlets.

Also named far more than usual: illness in Japan (102 of its stories, about three times its usual); flooding in Afghanistan (22 of its stories, about 4 times its usual); helicopter crash in Nigeria (24 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); wildfires in Israel (10 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); flu in UK (65 of its stories, about three times its usual).

30 in 100 stories were about harm

usually 29; 29 the day before
32 in 10027 in 10031 Jul7 Aug14 Aug21 Aug29 Aug31 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 10028 Aug: 29 in 10029 Aug: 30 in 100 · this day

Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 29 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 17,010 stories about harm among 56,504 counted on 29 Aug.

Read the day's briefing

Afghanistan's news mentioned flooding about 4 times as often as usual. 30 in every 100 of the day's 56,504 news stories were about people being harmed, above the usual 29. A year earlier, on 30 August 2019, 21 in every 100 stories were about people being harmed, against 30 today. Germany stood out: 48% of its news was about people being harmed, usually 31%.

Written by code from the day's numbers.

Where it happened

feelings in full →
Feelings Events Harm Warmth
Osaka, Japan -- protests & strikes: 7 stories, carried by 15 outlets; harsh wording in 86 in 100Hoshangabad, India -- accidents & disasters: 11 stories, carried by 9 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Bamako, Mali -- attacks & violence: 12 stories, carried by 12 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Kunduz, Afghanistan -- attacks & violence: 10 stories, carried by 12 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Kyogle, Australia -- accidents & disasters: 7 stories, carried by 15 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Jammu, Kashmir -- attacks & violence: 34 stories, carried by 31 outlets; harsh wording in 88 in 100Mediterranean Sea, -- accidents & disasters: 8 stories, carried by 20 outlets; harsh wording in 88 in 100Baghdad, Iraq -- attacks & violence: 18 stories, carried by 25 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Basantar, Pakistan -- attacks & violence: 8 stories, carried by 23 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Montreal, Canada -- protests & strikes: 20 stories, carried by 51 outlets; harsh wording in 85 in 100Lampedusa, Italy -- protests & strikes: 24 stories, carried by 33 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Pulwama, Kashmir -- attacks & violence: 64 stories, carried by 42 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Parwan, Afghanistan -- accidents & disasters: 21 stories, carried by 46 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Sussex, UK -- accidents & disasters: 28 stories, carried by 153 outlets; harsh wording in 75 in 100Karachi, Pakistan -- accidents & disasters: 111 stories, carried by 88 outlets; harsh wording in 94 in 100Tripoli, Libya -- protests & strikes: 21 stories, carried by 73 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Xiangfen, China -- deaths, cause not given: 33 stories, carried by 85 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Tokyo, Japan -- disease & outbreaks: 99 stories, carried by 155 outlets; harsh wording in 73 in 100Mahebourg, Mauritius -- protests & strikes: 29 stories, carried by 162 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Stockholm, Sweden -- protests & strikes: 24 stories, carried by 167 outlets; harsh wording in 88 in 100Minsk, Belarus -- protests & strikes: 72 stories, carried by 183 outlets; harsh wording in 99 in 100Berlin, Germany -- protests & strikes: 126 stories, carried by 266 outlets; harsh wording in 98 in 100Kenosha, US -- protests & strikes: 377 stories, carried by 894 outlets; harsh wording in 99 in 100Lake Charles, US -- accidents & disasters: 255 stories, carried by 847 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.

● Angera little more than 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?

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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.