← 19 May Thursday 20 May 2021 · to 23:59 UTC 21 May →
What the world's news said happened to people.
Counts of coverage, not of suffering
22,810 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 Cantel (Guatemala), violence in Jerusalem and wildfires in Greece drew the news. Israel's coverage was about twice as angry as the world's. Over the whole world, the tone was about as usual.

Help and hope: reports of peace efforts ran at about twice the usual rate →
Part of lifeHealth 50 in 100 of the stories about harm · less than usual Country that rose mostTaiwan 47 in 100 of its 194 stories, usually 34
RegionMiddle East & North Africa 50 in 100 of its stories, usually 44
Tone of the words About as usual across the world's stories about harm

What the world's news was about today

how these are picked →
Protests & strikes

Guatemala

32 of its 37 stories (86%) were about people being harmed, usually 44%. Cantel accounted for 16 of Guatemala's 32 stories about harm, carried by 22 outlets. 11 of Cantel's 16 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of arrests ran at about 5 times the usual rate (16 stories). Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's.

Conflict & violence

Israel

1,448 of its 2,159 stories (67%) were about people being harmed, usually 61%. Jerusalem accounted for 825 of Israel's 1,448 stories about harm, carried by 813 outlets. Reports of refugees ran at about 4 times the usual rate (130 stories). Natural hazards were named in 86 of its stories about harm, about three times usual. Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's.

Disasters & accidents

Greece

85 of its 207 stories (41%) were about people being harmed, usually 28%. Reports of evacuations ran at more than ten times the usual rate (23 stories). Wildfires were named in 14 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual.

Rights & justice

Nigeria

Reports of people displaced ran at about twice the usual rate (26 stories). Gas explosion was named in 13 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.

6 more places the news pointed at
Conflict & violence

Croatia

23 of its 43 stories (53%) were about people being harmed, usually 15%. Zagreb accounted for 21 of Croatia's 23 stories about harm, carried by 2 outlets. Reports of people killed ran at about 6 times the usual rate (20 stories). Earthquake was named in 21 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual.

Conflict & violence

Kashmir

48 of its 86 stories (56%) were about people being harmed, usually 44%. Reports of people affected ran at about three times the usual rate (5 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as fearful as the world's.

Health

Taiwan

92 of its 194 stories (47%) were about people being harmed, usually 34%. Taipei accounted for 59 of Taiwan's 92 stories about harm, carried by 88 outlets.

Conflict & violence

Yemen

31 of its 41 stories (76%) were about people being harmed, usually 59%. Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's.

Displacement

Lebanon

42 of its 103 stories (41%) were about people being harmed, usually 32%. Reports of refugees ran at about 4 times the usual rate (11 stories).

Rights & justice

Azerbaijan

20 of its 51 stories (39%) were about people being harmed, usually 28%. Reports of people affected ran at about 8 times the usual rate (7 stories).

Also named far more than usual: earthquake in Croatia (21 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); illness in Indonesia (13 of its stories, about 4 times its usual); road crashes in France (28 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); storms in Ethiopia (12 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); respiratory illness in Malaysia (18 of its stories, more than ten times its usual).

24 in 100 stories were about harm

usually 25; 24 the day before
28 in 10024 in 10021 Apr28 Apr5 May12 May20 May21 Apr: 24 in 10022 Apr: 24 in 10023 Apr: 24 in 10024 Apr: 28 in 10025 Apr: 28 in 10026 Apr: 24 in 10027 Apr: 24 in 10028 Apr: 24 in 10029 Apr: 24 in 10030 Apr: 24 in 1001 May: 25 in 1002 May: 25 in 1003 May: 25 in 1004 May: 24 in 1005 May: 24 in 1006 May: 24 in 1007 May: 24 in 1008 May: 26 in 1009 May: 27 in 10010 May: 25 in 10011 May: 25 in 10012 May: 25 in 10013 May: 24 in 10014 May: 24 in 10015 May: 26 in 10016 May: 28 in 10017 May: 25 in 10018 May: 24 in 10019 May: 24 in 10020 May: 24 in 100 · this day

Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 20 May. 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 22,810 stories about harm among 94,669 counted on 20 May.

Read the day's briefing

Reports of peace efforts, a sign of help, ran at about twice the usual rate. 24 in every 100 of the day's 94,669 news stories were about people being harmed, as usual. In Croatia's news, mentions of the earthquake ran more than ten times their usual. Guatemala stood out: 86% of its news was about people being harmed, usually 44%. A year earlier, on 20 May 2020, 33 in every 100 stories were about people being harmed, against 24 today.

Written by code from the day's numbers.

Where it happened

feelings in full →
Feelings Events Harm Warmth
Prince Albert, Canada -- accidents & disasters: 30 stories, carried by 27 outlets; harsh wording in 47 in 100Fulani, Nigeria -- attacks & violence: 9 stories, carried by 10 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Sukkur, Pakistan -- deaths, cause not given: 5 stories, carried by 15 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Arabian Sea, India -- accidents & disasters: 15 stories, carried by 11 outlets; harsh wording in 87 in 100Lamu, Kenya -- attacks & violence: 9 stories, carried by 13 outlets; harsh wording in 89 in 100Jakarta, Indonesia -- disease & outbreaks: 16 stories, carried by 19 outlets; harsh wording in 81 in 100Tigray, Ethiopia -- people displaced: 19 stories, carried by 34 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Kaduna, Nigeria -- protests & strikes: 34 stories, carried by 24 outlets; harsh wording in 85 in 100Bogota, Colombia -- protests & strikes: 13 stories, carried by 15 outlets; harsh wording in 92 in 100Cantel, Guatemala -- protests & strikes: 16 stories, carried by 22 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Lashkar Gah, Afghanistan -- attacks & violence: 5 stories, carried by 16 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Beirut, Lebanon -- people displaced: 22 stories, carried by 31 outlets; harsh wording in 86 in 100Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia -- disease & outbreaks: 66 stories, carried by 29 outlets; harsh wording in 83 in 100Warsaw, Poland -- protests & strikes: 6 stories, carried by 64 outlets; harsh wording in 67 in 100Athens, Greece -- accidents & disasters: 31 stories, carried by 56 outlets; harsh wording in 94 in 100Marib, Yemen -- attacks & violence: 12 stories, carried by 44 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Kabul, Afghanistan -- attacks & violence: 27 stories, carried by 48 outlets; harsh wording in 93 in 100Moscow, Russia -- attacks & violence: 93 stories, carried by 124 outlets; harsh wording in 90 in 100Front Range, US -- accidents & disasters: 7 stories, carried by 64 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Mumbai, India -- accidents & disasters: 218 stories, carried by 166 outlets; harsh wording in 81 in 100Tulsa, US -- attacks & violence: 46 stories, carried by 153 outlets; harsh wording in 76 in 100Ashkelon, Israel -- attacks & violence: 61 stories, carried by 103 outlets; harsh wording in 97 in 100Gaza, Palestine -- attacks & violence: 140 stories, carried by 185 outlets; harsh wording in 99 in 100Jerusalem, Israel -- attacks & violence: 825 stories, carried by 813 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 about as usual. Filled dot: today. Ring: usual.

● Angerabout as usual
● Warmthabout as usual
● Griefa little less 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.