← 26 Sep Sunday 27 September 2020 · to 23:59 UTC 28 Sep →
What the world's news said happened to people.
Counts of coverage, not of suffering
13,366 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.

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The day's news pointed at violence in Beirut, protests in Minsk (Belarus) and plane crash in Ukraine. Lebanon's coverage was about twice as fearful as the world's. Across the world, the tone of the words was harsher than usual.

Part of lifeHealth 51 in 100 of the stories about harm · less than usual Country that rose mostBelarus 80 in 100 of its 121 stories, usually 54
RegionMiddle East & North Africa 43 in 100 of its stories, usually 38
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 →
Conflict & violence

Lebanon

105 of its 164 stories (64%) were about people being harmed, usually 54%. Beirut accounted for 77 of Lebanon's 105 stories about harm, carried by 120 outlets. Reports of arrests ran at about three times the usual rate (15 stories). Illness was named in 14 of its stories about harm, about 4 times usual. Its coverage was about twice as fearful as the world's.

Protests & strikes

Belarus

97 of its 121 stories (80%) were about people being harmed, usually 54%. Minsk accounted for 55 of Belarus' 97 stories about harm, carried by 140 outlets. 51 of Minsk's 55 stories were about protests or strikes. Its coverage was about one and a half times as angry as the world's.

Disasters & accidents

Ukraine

37 of its 64 stories (58%) were about people being harmed, usually 30%. Reports of people affected ran at about 4 times the usual rate (8 stories). Plane crash was named in 15 of its stories about harm, about 7 times usual. Its coverage was about one and a half times as grief-stricken as the world's.

Health

Tuvalu

13 of its 15 stories (87%) were about people being harmed, usually 26%. Reports of people killed ran at about three times the usual rate (12 stories). Wildfires were named in 13 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual.

6 more places the news pointed at
Conflict & violence

Yemen

55 of its 70 stories (79%) were about people being harmed, usually 63%. Reports of arrests ran at about 9 times the usual rate (30 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as warm as the world's.

Conflict & violence

Armenia

109 of its 315 stories (35%) were about people being harmed, usually 26%. Reports of people injured ran at more than ten times the usual rate (59 stories). Its coverage was about three times as angry as the world's.

Protests & strikes

Mexico

57 of its 139 stories (41%) were about people being harmed, usually 33%. 5 of Ayotzinapa's 7 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of arrests ran at about three times the usual rate (15 stories).

Conflict & violence

Afghanistan

Kabul accounted for 50 of Afghanistan's 87 stories about harm, carried by 65 outlets. Reports of refugees ran at about three times the usual rate (10 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as warm as the world's.

Health

Qatar

64 of its 141 stories (45%) were about people being harmed, usually 27%. Doha accounted for 46 of Qatar's 64 stories about harm, carried by 102 outlets.

Protests & strikes

Spain

118 of its 360 stories (33%) were about people being harmed, usually 23%. 52 of Madrid's 72 stories were about protests or strikes.

Also named far more than usual: earthquake in Greece (10 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); earthquake in South Africa (17 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); storms in New Zealand (12 of its stories, about 5 times its usual).

27 in 100 stories were about harm

usually 28; 28 the day before
31 in 10026 in 10029 Aug5 Sep12 Sep19 Sep27 Sep29 Aug: 30 in 10030 Aug: 31 in 10031 Aug: 29 in 1001 Sep: 27 in 1002 Sep: 27 in 1003 Sep: 27 in 1004 Sep: 27 in 1005 Sep: 29 in 1006 Sep: 31 in 1007 Sep: 29 in 1008 Sep: 27 in 1009 Sep: 27 in 10010 Sep: 27 in 10011 Sep: 28 in 10012 Sep: 30 in 10013 Sep: 30 in 10014 Sep: 27 in 10015 Sep: 27 in 10016 Sep: 27 in 10017 Sep: 26 in 10018 Sep: 26 in 10019 Sep: 29 in 10020 Sep: 28 in 10021 Sep: 26 in 10022 Sep: 26 in 10023 Sep: 26 in 10024 Sep: 26 in 10025 Sep: 26 in 10026 Sep: 28 in 10027 Sep: 27 in 100 · this day

Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 27 Sep. 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 13,366 stories about harm among 48,967 counted on 27 Sep.

Read the day's briefing

In Tuvalu's news, mentions of wildfires ran more than ten times their usual. Stories about people being harmed made up 27 in every 100 of the day's 48,967 stories, as usual. On 28 September 2019, a year earlier, the share was 19 in every 100, against 27 today. In Lebanon, 64% of the news was about people being harmed, where 54% is usual. This week the news turned most often to Belarus, on 3 of 7 days.

Written by code from the day's numbers.

Where it happened

feelings in full →
Feelings Events Harm Warmth
Islamabad, Pakistan -- attacks & violence: 37 stories, carried by 50 outlets; harsh wording in 92 in 100Cape Town, South Africa -- accidents & disasters: 30 stories, carried by 25 outlets; harsh wording in 93 in 100Pulwama, Kashmir -- attacks & violence: 26 stories, carried by 16 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Monguno, Nigeria -- attacks & violence: 21 stories, carried by 18 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Tehran, Iran -- attacks & violence: 36 stories, carried by 40 outlets; harsh wording in 94 in 100Kharkiv, Ukraine -- accidents & disasters: 22 stories, carried by 25 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Sanaa, Yemen -- attacks & violence: 19 stories, carried by 31 outlets; harsh wording in 95 in 100Karachi, Pakistan -- accidents & disasters: 49 stories, carried by 57 outlets; harsh wording in 92 in 100Chongqing, China -- accidents & disasters: 18 stories, carried by 45 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Baku, Azerbaijan -- attacks & violence: 29 stories, carried by 29 outlets; harsh wording in 93 in 100Shenyang, China -- attacks & violence: 14 stories, carried by 31 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Baghdad, Iraq -- attacks & violence: 29 stories, carried by 53 outlets; harsh wording in 93 in 100Kabul, Afghanistan -- attacks & violence: 50 stories, carried by 65 outlets; harsh wording in 82 in 100Bamako, Mali -- attacks & violence: 6 stories, carried by 57 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Beirut, Lebanon -- attacks & violence: 77 stories, carried by 120 outlets; harsh wording in 92 in 100Madrid, Spain -- protests & strikes: 72 stories, carried by 84 outlets; harsh wording in 99 in 100Seoul, South Korea -- accidents & disasters: 53 stories, carried by 163 outlets; harsh wording in 98 in 100Azeri, Armenia -- attacks & violence: 54 stories, carried by 85 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Artsakh, Azerbaijan -- attacks & violence: 64 stories, carried by 119 outlets; harsh wording in 98 in 100Paris, France -- attacks & violence: 114 stories, carried by 280 outlets; harsh wording in 90 in 100Yerevan, Armenia -- attacks & violence: 34 stories, carried by 171 outlets; harsh wording in 94 in 100Minsk, Belarus -- protests & strikes: 55 stories, carried by 140 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Kentucky, US -- protests & strikes: 48 stories, carried by 294 outlets; harsh wording in 85 in 100Louisville, US -- protests & strikes: 79 stories, carried by 223 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 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?

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.