← 9 Oct Saturday 10 October 2020 · to 23:59 UTC 11 Oct →
What the world's news said happened to people.
Counts of coverage, not of suffering
16,393 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 wildfires in Lebanon, people affected in Norway and protests in Latakia (Syria). Armenia's coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's. Everywhere we counted, the words were harsher than usual.

Reports of abductions ran at about three times the usual rate, most often about the US and Mali → Help and hope: reports of peace efforts ran at about one and a half times the usual rate →
Part of lifeHealth 55 in 100 of the stories about harm · about as usual Country that rose mostNorth Korea 65 in 100 of its 210 stories, usually 40
RegionSoutheast Asia 40 in 100 of its stories, usually 34
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 →
Disasters & accidents

Lebanon

77 of its 127 stories (61%) were about people being harmed, usually 48%. Beirut accounted for 55 of Lebanon's 77 stories about harm, carried by 145 outlets. Reports of people injured ran at about twice the usual rate (38 stories). Wildfires were named in 10 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual. Its coverage was about one and a half times as grief-stricken as the world's.

Health

Norway

37 of its 86 stories (43%) were about people being harmed, usually 23%. Reports of people affected ran at about twice the usual rate (5 stories). Hunger was named in 10 of its stories about harm, about 8 times usual. Its coverage was about one and a half times as warm as the world's.

Protests & strikes

Syria

47 of its 65 stories (72%) were about people being harmed, usually 59%. 10 of Latakia's 20 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of evacuations ran at more than ten times the usual rate (7 stories). Wildfires were named in 15 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual, with storms.

Conflict & violence

Armenia

84 of its 151 stories (56%) were about people being harmed, usually 38%. Reports of arrests ran at more than ten times the usual rate (14 stories). Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's.

6 more places the news pointed at
Health

North Korea

136 of its 210 stories (65%) were about people being harmed, usually 40%. Pyongyang accounted for 129 of North Korea's 136 stories about harm, carried by 328 outlets. Natural hazards were named in 38 of its stories about harm, about 5 times usual.

Health

Portugal

51 of its 102 stories (50%) were about people being harmed, usually 21%. Lisbon accounted for 47 of Portugal's 51 stories about harm, carried by 8 outlets. Reports of people injured ran at more than ten times the usual rate (28 stories).

Conflict & violence

Kashmir

104 of its 158 stories (66%) were about people being harmed, usually 52%. Kulgam accounted for 55 of Kashmir's 104 stories about harm, carried by 36 outlets. Its coverage was about three times as fearful as the world's.

Conflict & violence

Azerbaijan

110 of its 232 stories (47%) were about people being harmed, usually 35%. Reports of arrests ran at more than ten times the usual rate (11 stories). Its coverage was about three times as angry as the world's.

Protests & strikes

Nigeria

29 of Lagos' 55 stories were about protests or strikes. HIV was named in 11 of its stories about harm, about three times usual. Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's.

Rights & justice

Bangladesh

77 of its 133 stories (58%) were about people being harmed, usually 45%. Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's.

Also named far more than usual: natural hazards in North Korea (38 of its stories, about 5 times its usual); illness in Sri Lanka (12 of its stories, about three times its usual); typhoon in South Korea (10 of its stories, about 6 times its usual); typhoon in Japan (13 of its stories, about three times its usual); flu in France (11 of its stories, about 6 times its usual).

28 in 100 stories were about harm

usually 27; 28 the day before
30 in 10025 in 1009 Sep16 Sep23 Sep30 Sep10 Oct9 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 10028 Sep: 25 in 10029 Sep: 25 in 10030 Sep: 26 in 1001 Oct: 26 in 1002 Oct: 28 in 1003 Oct: 29 in 1005 Oct: 27 in 1006 Oct: 27 in 1007 Oct: 26 in 1009 Oct: 28 in 10010 Oct: 28 in 100 · this day

Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 10 Oct. 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 16,393 stories about harm among 58,228 counted on 10 Oct.

Read the day's briefing

Syria's news mentioned wildfires more than ten times as often as usual. 28 in every 100 of the day's 58,228 news stories were about people being harmed, above the usual 27. Reports of abductions ran at about three times the usual rate, most often about the US and Mali. Reports of peace efforts, a sign of help, ran at about one and a half times the usual rate. A year earlier, on 11 October 2019, 18 in every 100 stories were about people being harmed, against 28 today.

Written by code from the day's numbers.

Where it happened

feelings in full →
Feelings Events Harm Warmth
Shahpur, Pakistan -- deaths, cause not given: 5 stories, carried by 8 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Ogbomoso, Nigeria -- protests & strikes: 11 stories, carried by 9 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Quetta, Pakistan -- protests & strikes: 7 stories, carried by 17 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Kabul, Afghanistan -- attacks & violence: 35 stories, carried by 23 outlets; harsh wording in 80 in 100Kolkata, India -- protests & strikes: 44 stories, carried by 29 outlets; harsh wording in 84 in 100Lagos, Nigeria -- protests & strikes: 55 stories, carried by 27 outlets; harsh wording in 87 in 100Shenzhen, China -- protests & strikes: 12 stories, carried by 37 outlets; harsh wording in 75 in 100Hathras, India -- protests & strikes: 47 stories, carried by 32 outlets; harsh wording in 98 in 100Oslo, Norway -- disease & outbreaks: 25 stories, carried by 57 outlets; harsh wording in 40 in 100Jakarta, Indonesia -- protests & strikes: 30 stories, carried by 54 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Latakia, Syria -- protests & strikes: 20 stories, carried by 58 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Beirut, Lebanon -- accidents & disasters: 55 stories, carried by 145 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Kulgam, Kashmir -- attacks & violence: 55 stories, carried by 36 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Stepanakert, Azerbaijan -- attacks & violence: 59 stories, carried by 54 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Karabakh, Russia -- attacks & violence: 39 stories, carried by 45 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Jolo, Philippines -- attacks & violence: 16 stories, carried by 37 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Tel Aviv, Israel -- protests & strikes: 29 stories, carried by 72 outlets; harsh wording in 97 in 100Azeri, Armenia -- attacks & violence: 36 stories, carried by 62 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan -- protests & strikes: 36 stories, carried by 70 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Paris, France -- disease & outbreaks: 49 stories, carried by 159 outlets; harsh wording in 88 in 100Minsk, Belarus -- protests & strikes: 24 stories, carried by 137 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Terter, Azerbaijan -- protests & strikes: 18 stories, carried by 216 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Wauwatosa, US -- protests & strikes: 60 stories, carried by 230 outlets; harsh wording in 95 in 100Lake Charles, US -- accidents & disasters: 192 stories, carried by 767 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.

● 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.