← 4 Aug Thursday 5 August 2021 · to 23:59 UTC 6 Aug →
What the world's news said happened to people.
Counts of coverage, not of suffering
18,654 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 wildfires in Greece, protests in Darfur (Sudan) and people killed in Chad. Bangladesh's coverage was about three times as grief-stricken as the world's. Over the whole world, the tone was much softer than usual.

Part of lifeHealth 54 in 100 of the stories about harm · much more than usual Country that rose mostGreece 48 in 100 of its 239 stories, usually 28
RegionCentral Asia 43 in 100 of its stories, usually 34
Tone of the words Much softer than usual across the world's stories about harm

What the world's news was about today

how these are picked →
Disasters & accidents

Greece

114 of its 239 stories (48%) were about people being harmed, usually 28%. Athens accounted for 72 of Greece's 114 stories about harm, carried by 197 outlets. Reports of evacuations ran at about 10 times the usual rate (38 stories). Wildfires were named in 50 of its stories about harm, about 4 times usual, with storms and flooding.

Protests & strikes

Sudan

25 of its 41 stories (61%) were about people being harmed, usually 43%. 4 of Darfur's 6 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of arrests ran at about 5 times the usual rate (5 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as grief-stricken as the world's.

Conflict & violence

Chad

19 of its 33 stories (58%) were about people being harmed, usually 17%. Reports of people killed ran at about 4 times the usual rate (12 stories). Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's.

Health

Bangladesh

Reports of abductions ran at more than ten times the usual rate (5 stories). Natural hazards were named in 13 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual. Its coverage was about three times as grief-stricken as the world's. Anger in its coverage rose to about one and a half times its own usual.

6 more places the news pointed at
Conflict & violence

Afghanistan

188 of its 265 stories (71%) were about people being harmed, usually 61%. Kabul accounted for 65 of Afghanistan's 188 stories about harm, carried by 73 outlets. Its coverage was about three times as angry as the world's.

Conflict & violence

Lebanon

118 of its 215 stories (55%) were about people being harmed, usually 45%. Beirut accounted for 92 of Lebanon's 118 stories about harm, carried by 82 outlets. Its coverage was about one and a half times as angry as the world's.

Deaths & injuries, cause not given

Czechia

23 of its 57 stories (40%) were about people being harmed, usually 19%. Reports of people injured ran at about three times the usual rate (13 stories).

Protests & strikes

Hong Kong

60 of its 140 stories (43%) were about people being harmed, usually 32%. 12 of Hong Kong's 21 stories were about protests or strikes.

Health

Fiji

31 of its 66 stories (47%) were about people being harmed, usually 36%. Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's.

Health

Qatar

21 of its 80 stories (26%) were about people being harmed, usually 16%. Reports of people affected ran at about 7 times the usual rate (7 stories).

Also named far more than usual: flu in Ireland (14 of its stories, about 5 times its usual); natural hazards in India (11 of its stories, about 4 times its usual).

24 in 100 stories were about harm

usually 24; 21 the day before
26 in 10021 in 1007 Jul14 Jul21 Jul28 Jul5 Aug7 Jul: 22 in 1008 Jul: 22 in 1009 Jul: 23 in 10010 Jul: 25 in 10011 Jul: 25 in 10012 Jul: 23 in 10013 Jul: 23 in 10014 Jul: 22 in 10015 Jul: 23 in 10016 Jul: 24 in 10017 Jul: 26 in 10018 Jul: 25 in 10019 Jul: 23 in 10020 Jul: 23 in 10021 Jul: 23 in 10022 Jul: 23 in 10023 Jul: 24 in 10024 Jul: 25 in 10025 Jul: 25 in 10026 Jul: 24 in 10027 Jul: 23 in 10028 Jul: 23 in 10029 Jul: 23 in 10030 Jul: 24 in 10031 Jul: 25 in 1001 Aug: 25 in 1002 Aug: 24 in 1003 Aug: 23 in 1004 Aug: 21 in 1005 Aug: 24 in 100 · this day

Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 5 Aug. 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 18,654 stories about harm among 78,758 counted on 5 Aug.

Read the day's briefing

For the third day running, the news turned to Greece. Stories about people being harmed made up 24 in every 100 of the day's 78,758 stories, as usual. On 5 August 2020, a year earlier, the share was 29 in every 100, against 24 today. In Greece, 48% of the news was about people being harmed, where 28% is usual.

Written by code from the day's numbers.

Where it happened

feelings in full →
Feelings Events Harm Warmth
Darfur, Sudan -- protests & strikes: 6 stories, carried by 17 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Cabo Delgado, Mozambique -- attacks & violence: 12 stories, carried by 16 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Dublin, Ireland -- disease & outbreaks: 39 stories, carried by 27 outlets; harsh wording in 79 in 100Minsk, Belarus -- protests & strikes: 26 stories, carried by 27 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Guangdong, China -- accidents & disasters: 14 stories, carried by 21 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Ngorongoro, Tanzania -- deaths, cause not given: 6 stories, carried by 15 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Shibganj, Bangladesh -- accidents & disasters: 13 stories, carried by 15 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Damascus, Syria -- attacks & violence: 15 stories, carried by 27 outlets; harsh wording in 93 in 100Boscombe, UK -- people displaced: 15 stories, carried by 25 outlets; harsh wording in 93 in 100Gulf of Oman, Iran -- protests & strikes: 14 stories, carried by 40 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Islamabad, Pakistan -- attacks & violence: 70 stories, carried by 65 outlets; harsh wording in 96 in 100Beit Ummar, Palestine -- attacks & violence: 11 stories, carried by 70 outlets; harsh wording in 73 in 100Markoye, Burkina Faso -- attacks & violence: 7 stories, carried by 26 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Rahim Yar Khan, Pakistan -- protests & strikes: 35 stories, carried by 42 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Beirut, Lebanon -- attacks & violence: 92 stories, carried by 82 outlets; harsh wording in 99 in 100Mugla, Türkiye -- accidents & disasters: 19 stories, carried by 33 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Tigray, Ethiopia -- attacks & violence: 31 stories, carried by 60 outlets; harsh wording in 97 in 100Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, Hong Kong -- protests & strikes: 21 stories, carried by 71 outlets; harsh wording in 90 in 100Lashkar Gah, Afghanistan -- attacks & violence: 30 stories, carried by 62 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Kabul, Afghanistan -- attacks & violence: 65 stories, carried by 73 outlets; harsh wording in 97 in 100Kemerkoy, Türkiye -- accidents & disasters: 13 stories, carried by 82 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Plumas County, US -- accidents & disasters: 9 stories, carried by 123 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Athens, Greece -- accidents & disasters: 72 stories, carried by 197 outlets; harsh wording in 97 in 100Greenville, US -- accidents & disasters: 95 stories, carried by 333 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 softer than 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.