← 6 Aug Wednesday 11 August 2021 · to 23:59 UTC 12 Aug →
What the world's news said happened to people.
Counts of coverage, not of suffering
16,372 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 →

Most of the day's attention went to illness in Gueckedou, the drought in Algeria and violence in Darfur. Algeria's coverage was about three times as grief-stricken as the world's. Language across the world's news ran much softer than usual.

Reports of people falling ill ran at about twice the usual rate, most often about the US and China →
Part of lifeHealth 51 in 100 of the stories about harm · more than usual Country that rose mostAlgeria 84 in 100 of its 124 stories, usually 34
RegionSoutheast Asia 41 in 100 of its stories, usually 38
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 →
Health

Guinea

26 of its 29 stories (90%) were about people being harmed, usually 23%. Gueckedou accounted for 17 of Guinea's 26 stories about harm, carried by 27 outlets. Reports of people killed ran at about 4 times the usual rate (13 stories). Ebola was named in 23 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual, with haemorrhagic fever. Its coverage was about one and a half times as grief-stricken as the world's.

Disasters & accidents

Algeria

104 of its 124 stories (84%) were about people being harmed, usually 34%. Reports of people affected ran at about 9 times the usual rate (11 stories). Drought was named in 13 of its stories about harm, about 9 times usual. Its coverage was about three times as grief-stricken as the world's.

Conflict & violence

Sudan

46 of its 61 stories (75%) were about people being harmed, usually 43%. Darfur accounted for 25 of Sudan's 46 stories about harm, carried by 32 outlets. Reports of people displaced ran at about twice the usual rate (17 stories). Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's.

Protests & strikes

Thailand

Bangkok accounted for 43 of Thailand's 79 stories about harm, carried by 51 outlets. 26 of Bangkok's 43 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of people injured ran at about 7 times the usual rate (17 stories). Anger in its coverage rose to about one and a half times its own usual.

6 more places the news pointed at
Conflict & violence

Ethiopia

67 of its 104 stories (64%) were about people being harmed, usually 52%. Tigray accounted for 60 of Ethiopia's 67 stories about harm, carried by 132 outlets. HIV was named in 10 of its stories about harm, about 8 times usual. Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's.

Conflict & violence

Iran

89 of its 150 stories (59%) were about people being harmed, usually 49%. Tehran accounted for 45 of Iran's 89 stories about harm, carried by 109 outlets. Reports of people injured ran at about three times the usual rate (9 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as fearful as the world's.

Disasters & accidents

Greece

101 of its 219 stories (46%) were about people being harmed, usually 30%. Reports of people injured ran at about 5 times the usual rate (10 stories). Drought was named in 12 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual.

Protests & strikes

Myanmar

11 of Yangon's 14 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of people injured ran at about 4 times the usual rate (12 stories). Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's.

Disasters & accidents

Dominican Republic

48 of its 53 stories (91%) were about people being harmed, usually 29%. Flooding was named in 17 of its stories about harm, about 10 times usual, with landslides and heavy rain.

Disasters & accidents

Italy

78 of its 348 stories (22%) were about people being harmed, usually 15%. Reports of people killed ran at about twice the usual rate (23 stories).

Also named far more than usual: flooding in Dominican Republic (17 of its stories, about 10 times its usual); flooding in Türkiye (17 of its stories, about 6 times its usual); illness in Cuba (11 of its stories, about 5 times its usual); earthquake in Philippines (23 of its stories, about 5 times its usual); hiv in Ethiopia (10 of its stories, about 8 times its usual).

24 in 100 stories were about harm

usually 24; 24 the day before
26 in 10021 in 1009 Jul16 Jul23 Jul30 Jul11 Aug9 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 1006 Aug: 24 in 10011 Aug: 24 in 100 · this day

Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 11 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 16,372 stories about harm among 69,116 counted on 11 Aug.

Read the day's briefing

In Guinea, 90% of the news was about people being harmed, where 23% is usual. Stories about people being harmed made up 24 in every 100 of the day's 69,116 stories, as usual. Mentions of Ebola ran more than ten times their usual in Guinea's news. Reports of people falling ill ran at about twice the usual rate, most often about the US and China. On 11 August 2020, a year earlier, the share was 29 in every 100, against 24 today.

Written by code from the day's numbers.

Where it happened

feelings in full →
Feelings Events Harm Warmth
Minsk, Belarus -- protests & strikes: 20 stories, carried by 20 outlets; harsh wording in 95 in 100Rome, Italy -- accidents & disasters: 17 stories, carried by 30 outlets; harsh wording in 76 in 100Gulf of Mexico, Cuba -- accidents & disasters: 8 stories, carried by 14 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Karbala, Iraq -- protests & strikes: 8 stories, carried by 29 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Yangon, Myanmar -- protests & strikes: 14 stories, carried by 24 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Kinnaur, India -- accidents & disasters: 20 stories, carried by 23 outlets; harsh wording in 95 in 100Darfur, Sudan -- attacks & violence: 25 stories, carried by 32 outlets; harsh wording in 96 in 100Sinop, Türkiye -- accidents & disasters: 7 stories, carried by 26 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Gueckedou, Guinea -- disease & outbreaks: 17 stories, carried by 27 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Bangkok, Thailand -- protests & strikes: 43 stories, carried by 51 outlets; harsh wording in 91 in 100Cabo Frances Viejo, Dominican Republic -- accidents & disasters: 14 stories, carried by 34 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Tehran, Iran -- attacks & violence: 45 stories, carried by 109 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Pefki, Greece -- accidents & disasters: 7 stories, carried by 54 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Tigray, Ethiopia -- attacks & violence: 60 stories, carried by 132 outlets; harsh wording in 98 in 100Punta Palenque, Dominican Republic -- accidents & disasters: 13 stories, carried by 49 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Tizi Ouzou, Algeria -- accidents & disasters: 31 stories, carried by 59 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Palermo, Italy -- accidents & disasters: 9 stories, carried by 81 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Kabylie, Algeria -- accidents & disasters: 33 stories, carried by 73 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Amman, Jordan -- attacks & violence: 11 stories, carried by 114 outlets; harsh wording in 82 in 100Portland, US -- accidents & disasters: 66 stories, carried by 216 outlets; harsh wording in 86 in 100Ashland, US -- accidents & disasters: 13 stories, carried by 119 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Kunduz, Afghanistan -- attacks & violence: 50 stories, carried by 115 outlets; harsh wording in 98 in 100Athens, Greece -- accidents & disasters: 47 stories, carried by 204 outlets; harsh wording in 85 in 100Kabul, Afghanistan -- attacks & violence: 239 stories, carried by 383 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.