← 13 Nov Sunday 15 November 2020 · to 23:59 UTC 18 Nov →
What the world's news said happened to people.
Counts of coverage, not of suffering
3,198 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 protests in Lima (Peru), illness in Piatra Neamt and violence in Tigray. Ethiopia's coverage was about twice as angry as the world's. Across the world, the tone of the words was much harsher than usual.

Help and hope: reports of aid and relief ran at about one and a half times the usual rate →
Part of lifeHealth 54 in 100 of the stories about harm · less than usual Country that rose mostPhilippines 72 in 100 of its 124 stories, usually 41
RegionLatin America & Caribbean 52 in 100 of its stories, usually 33
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

Peru

22 of its 24 stories (92%) were about people being harmed, usually 29%. Lima accounted for 18 of Peru's 22 stories about harm, carried by 84 outlets. 18 of Lima's 18 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of people injured ran at more than ten times the usual rate (12 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as angry as the world's.

Health

Romania

18 of its 24 stories (75%) were about people being harmed, usually 20%. Piatra Neamt accounted for 13 of Romania's 18 stories about harm, carried by 20 outlets. Reports of people injured ran at more than ten times the usual rate (9 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as grief-stricken as the world's. Anger in its coverage rose to about one and a half times its own usual.

Conflict & violence

Ethiopia

59 of its 87 stories (68%) were about people being harmed, usually 45%. Tigray accounted for 52 of Ethiopia's 59 stories about harm, carried by 146 outlets. Reports of people injured ran at about 9 times the usual rate (11 stories). Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's.

Disasters & accidents

Philippines

89 of its 124 stories (72%) were about people being harmed, usually 41%. Reports of people injured ran at about 8 times the usual rate (15 stories). Typhoon was named in 63 of its stories about harm, about 9 times usual, with flooding, cyclone and heavy rain.

6 more places the news pointed at
Health

Mexico

24 of its 40 stories (60%) were about people being harmed, usually 36%. Reports of people killed ran at about three times the usual rate (19 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as grief-stricken as the world's.

Protests & strikes

Nigeria

69 of its 154 stories (45%) were about people being harmed, usually 34%. 15 of Lagos' 19 stories were about protests or strikes. Outbreaks were named in 11 of its stories about harm, about three times usual.

Disasters & accidents

Vietnam

19 of its 42 stories (45%) were about people being harmed, usually 32%. Reports of evacuations ran at about 5 times the usual rate (6 stories). Typhoon was named in 10 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual.

Health

Canada

58 of its 173 stories (34%) were about people being harmed, usually 27%. Reports of people injured ran at about twice the usual rate (5 stories). Grief in its coverage rose to about one and a half times its own usual.

Conflict & violence

Afghanistan

28 of its 34 stories (82%) were about people being harmed, usually 58%. Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's.

Conflict & violence

Israel

46 of its 87 stories (53%) were about people being harmed, usually 39%. Jerusalem accounted for 22 of Israel's 46 stories about harm, carried by 37 outlets.

Also named far more than usual: typhoon in Vietnam (10 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); outbreaks in Nigeria (11 of its stories, about three times its usual); landslides in US (15 of its stories, about 7 times its usual).

30 in 100 stories were about harm

usually 27; 27 the day before
30 in 10023 in 10023 Sep30 Sep9 Oct19 Oct15 Nov23 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 10011 Oct: 29 in 10012 Oct: 27 in 10014 Oct: 26 in 10015 Oct: 25 in 10018 Oct: 29 in 10019 Oct: 26 in 10022 Oct: 25 in 10023 Oct: 27 in 10027 Oct: 26 in 1005 Nov: 23 in 10011 Nov: 25 in 10012 Nov: 26 in 10013 Nov: 27 in 10015 Nov: 30 in 100 · this day

Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 15 Nov. 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 3,198 stories about harm among 10,800 counted on 15 Nov.

Read the day's briefing

The share of stories about people being harmed was the highest since 13 September 2020. Peru's news was 92% about people being harmed, against a usual 29%. On the side of help, reports of aid and relief ran at about one and a half times the usual rate. Stories about people being harmed made up 30 in every 100 of the day's 10,800 stories, above the usual 27.

Written by code from the day's numbers.

Where it happened

feelings in full →
Feelings Events Harm Warmth
Sussex, UK -- accidents & disasters: 5 stories, carried by 3 outlets; harsh wording in 60 in 100Gateshead, UK -- people displaced: 5 stories, carried by 5 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Dhaka, Bangladesh -- attacks & violence: 6 stories, carried by 9 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Peshawar, Pakistan -- attacks & violence: 5 stories, carried by 4 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Hanoi, Vietnam -- accidents & disasters: 9 stories, carried by 12 outlets; harsh wording in 56 in 100Kwazulu, South Africa -- deaths, cause not given: 5 stories, carried by 9 outlets; harsh wording in 60 in 100Abuja, Nigeria -- protests & strikes: 10 stories, carried by 8 outlets; harsh wording in 90 in 100Ashdod, Israel -- attacks & violence: 12 stories, carried by 13 outlets; harsh wording in 83 in 100Kabul, Afghanistan -- attacks & violence: 13 stories, carried by 20 outlets; harsh wording in 69 in 100Blue Mountains, Australia -- accidents & disasters: 6 stories, carried by 12 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Lagos, Nigeria -- protests & strikes: 19 stories, carried by 13 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Watseka, US -- accidents & disasters: 6 stories, carried by 22 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Kalbajar, Azerbaijan -- attacks & violence: 12 stories, carried by 15 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Philippine, Philippines -- accidents & disasters: 27 stories, carried by 25 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Cagayan, Philippines -- accidents & disasters: 23 stories, carried by 19 outlets; harsh wording in 96 in 100Jerusalem, Israel -- attacks & violence: 22 stories, carried by 37 outlets; harsh wording in 91 in 100Tehran, Iran -- attacks & violence: 20 stories, carried by 29 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Miami, US -- accidents & disasters: 16 stories, carried by 60 outlets; harsh wording in 94 in 100Lima, Peru -- protests & strikes: 18 stories, carried by 84 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Tigray, Ethiopia -- attacks & violence: 52 stories, carried by 146 outlets; harsh wording in 100 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.