← 1 Mar Tuesday 2 March 2021 · to 23:59 UTC 3 Mar →
What the world's news said happened to people.
Counts of coverage, not of suffering
25,144 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 day's news pointed at protests in Yangon (Myanmar), the hurricane in Jamaica and rights and justice in Damascus. Jamaica's coverage was about three times as grief-stricken as the world's. Taken together, the world's news read softer than usual.

Help and hope: reports of people freed or reunited ran at about one and a half times the usual rate →
Part of lifeHealth 56 in 100 of the stories about harm · more than usual Country that rose mostGhana 44 in 100 of its 620 stories, usually 31
RegionSub-Saharan Africa 40 in 100 of its stories, usually 37
Tone of the words Softer than usual across the world's stories about harm

What the world's news was about today

how these are picked →
Protests & strikes

Myanmar

131 of its 152 stories (86%) were about people being harmed, usually 74%. Yangon accounted for 87 of Myanmar's 131 stories about harm, carried by 211 outlets. 86 of Yangon's 87 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of people killed ran at about three times the usual rate (103 stories). Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's. Grief in its coverage rose to about one and a half times its own usual.

Health

Jamaica

109 of its 250 stories (44%) were about people being harmed, usually 31%. Reports of people killed ran at about twice the usual rate (72 stories). Hurricane was named in 13 of its stories about harm, about 5 times usual. Its coverage was about three times as grief-stricken as the world's.

Conflict & violence

Syria

77 of its 122 stories (63%) were about people being harmed, usually 55%. Damascus accounted for 34 of Syria's 77 stories about harm, carried by 60 outlets. Reports of people displaced ran at about twice the usual rate (17 stories). Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's.

Rights & justice

Saudi Arabia

193 of its 389 stories (50%) were about people being harmed, usually 39%. Reports of people injured ran at about 4 times the usual rate (22 stories). Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's.

6 more places the news pointed at
Conflict & violence

Mozambique

21 of its 34 stories (62%) were about people being harmed, usually 44%. Reports of refugees ran at about 8 times the usual rate (10 stories). Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's.

Rights & justice

Ethiopia

66 of its 110 stories (60%) were about people being harmed, usually 50%. Tigray accounted for 50 of Ethiopia's 66 stories about harm, carried by 65 outlets. Reports of arrests ran at about three times the usual rate (12 stories).

Health

Ghana

273 of its 620 stories (44%) were about people being harmed, usually 31%. Fear in its coverage rose to about one and a half times its own usual.

Rights & justice

Nigeria

747 of its 1,593 stories (47%) were about people being harmed, usually 35%. Reports of refugees ran at about 4 times the usual rate (21 stories).

Health

Rwanda

28 of its 40 stories (70%) were about people being harmed, usually 52%. Reports of refugees ran at about 4 times the usual rate (7 stories).

Health

Kenya

80 of its 248 stories (32%) were about people being harmed, usually 25%. Reports of refugees ran at about 5 times the usual rate (6 stories).

Also named far more than usual: volcanic eruption in Indonesia (34 of its stories, about 8 times its usual); outbreaks in Lebanon (11 of its stories, about three times its usual); cholera in Yemen (13 of its stories, about 4 times its usual); hurricane in China (10 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); power cuts in Australia (11 of its stories, about 6 times its usual).

26 in 100 stories were about harm

usually 26; 25 the day before
29 in 10024 in 1001 Feb8 Feb15 Feb22 Feb2 Mar1 Feb: 25 in 1002 Feb: 25 in 1003 Feb: 25 in 1004 Feb: 25 in 1005 Feb: 25 in 1006 Feb: 27 in 1007 Feb: 27 in 1008 Feb: 24 in 1009 Feb: 25 in 10010 Feb: 25 in 10011 Feb: 25 in 10012 Feb: 25 in 10013 Feb: 28 in 10014 Feb: 29 in 10015 Feb: 27 in 10016 Feb: 27 in 10017 Feb: 27 in 10018 Feb: 26 in 10019 Feb: 26 in 10020 Feb: 28 in 10021 Feb: 29 in 10022 Feb: 26 in 10023 Feb: 26 in 10024 Feb: 25 in 10025 Feb: 25 in 10026 Feb: 25 in 10027 Feb: 27 in 10028 Feb: 28 in 1001 Mar: 25 in 1002 Mar: 26 in 100 · this day

Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 2 Mar. 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 25,144 stories about harm among 96,835 counted on 2 Mar.

Read the day's briefing

For the fifth day running, the news turned to Myanmar. Stories about people being harmed made up 26 in every 100 of the day's 96,835 stories, as usual. Help and hope: reports of people freed or reunited ran at about one and a half times the usual rate. In Indonesia's news, mentions of volcanic eruption ran about 8 times their usual. On 2 March 2020, a year earlier, the share was 24 in every 100, against 26 today.

Written by code from the day's numbers.

Where it happened

feelings in full →
Feelings Events Harm Warmth
Shandong, China -- protests & strikes: 10 stories, carried by 11 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Islamabad, Pakistan -- attacks & violence: 68 stories, carried by 56 outlets; harsh wording in 84 in 100Maiduguri, Nigeria -- attacks & violence: 7 stories, carried by 20 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Tehran, Iran -- attacks & violence: 30 stories, carried by 36 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Mount Merapi, Indonesia -- accidents & disasters: 10 stories, carried by 16 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Sistan, Iran -- protests & strikes: 5 stories, carried by 17 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Xinjiang, China -- protests & strikes: 14 stories, carried by 30 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Cabo Delgado, Mozambique -- attacks & violence: 14 stories, carried by 36 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Marib, Yemen -- attacks & violence: 31 stories, carried by 44 outlets; harsh wording in 94 in 100Meaford, Canada -- accidents & disasters: 8 stories, carried by 30 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Kabul, Afghanistan -- attacks & violence: 25 stories, carried by 37 outlets; harsh wording in 84 in 100Innisfail, Australia -- accidents & disasters: 8 stories, carried by 26 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Jalalabad, Afghanistan -- protests & strikes: 23 stories, carried by 44 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Jazan, Saudi Arabia -- attacks & violence: 20 stories, carried by 42 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Beirut, Lebanon -- disease & outbreaks: 30 stories, carried by 71 outlets; harsh wording in 97 in 100Dikwa, Nigeria -- attacks & violence: 34 stories, carried by 41 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Baghdad, Iraq -- attacks & violence: 38 stories, carried by 80 outlets; harsh wording in 92 in 100Wolfe County, US -- accidents & disasters: 18 stories, carried by 69 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Sanaa, Yemen -- attacks & violence: 16 stories, carried by 96 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Czestochowa, Poland -- protests & strikes: 7 stories, carried by 74 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100North Sumatra, Indonesia -- accidents & disasters: 7 stories, carried by 84 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Dawei, Myanmar -- protests & strikes: 7 stories, carried by 112 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Yangon, Myanmar -- protests & strikes: 87 stories, carried by 211 outlets; harsh wording in 99 in 100El Centro, US -- deaths, cause not given: 114 stories, carried by 445 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 softer 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.