← 2 Sep Friday 3 September 2021 · to 23:59 UTC 4 Sep →
What the world's news said happened to people.
Counts of coverage, not of suffering
23,514 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 illness in Pyongyang, people injured in New Zealand and people killed in Jersey. New Zealand's coverage was about three times as angry as the world's. In the world's news as a whole, the wording was much softer than usual.

Part of lifeHealth 55 in 100 of the stories about harm · much more than usual Country that rose mostNew Zealand 60 in 100 of its 715 stories, usually 28
RegionOceania 41 in 100 of its stories, usually 28
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

North Korea

37 of its 48 stories (77%) were about people being harmed, usually 37%. Pyongyang accounted for 26 of North Korea's 37 stories about harm, carried by 76 outlets. Reports of people affected ran at about 8 times the usual rate (13 stories). Outbreaks were named in 22 of its stories about harm, about 10 times usual.

Conflict & violence

New Zealand

429 of its 715 stories (60%) were about people being harmed, usually 28%. Reports of people injured ran at more than ten times the usual rate (213 stories). Its coverage was about three times as angry as the world's.

Disasters & accidents

Jersey

21 of its 57 stories (37%) were about people being harmed, usually 19%. Reports of people killed ran at about three times the usual rate (9 stories).

6 more places the news pointed at
Health

US

8,733 of its 23,244 stories (38%) were about people being harmed, usually 32%. Reports of abductions ran at about twice the usual rate (54 stories). Drownings were named in 178 of its stories about harm, about 4 times usual, with snowstorms and oil spill.

Conflict & violence

Afghanistan

Kabul accounted for 753 of Afghanistan's 1,115 stories about harm, carried by 870 outlets. Drought was named in 79 of its stories about harm, about 4 times usual, with hunger. Its coverage was about one and a half times as fearful as the world's.

Health

Slovenia

20 of its 42 stories (48%) were about people being harmed, usually 20%. Bled accounted for 18 of Slovenia's 20 stories about harm, carried by 15 outlets.

Health

United Arab Emirates

46 of its 149 stories (31%) were about people being harmed, usually 16%. Reports of arrests ran at about three times the usual rate (6 stories).

Health

Belgium

41 of its 113 stories (36%) were about people being harmed, usually 21%. Brussels accounted for 34 of Belgium's 41 stories about harm, carried by 115 outlets.

Disasters & accidents

Trinidad & Tobago

38 of its 75 stories (51%) were about people being harmed, usually 36%. Landslides were named in 10 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual.

Also named far more than usual: landslides in Trinidad & Tobago (10 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); outbreaks in Germany (16 of its stories, about 4 times its usual); drought in Afghanistan (79 of its stories, about 4 times its usual); dengue in India (33 of its stories, about three times its usual); plague in Australia (13 of its stories, about 5 times its usual).

30 in 100 stories were about harm

usually 26; 30 the day before
34 in 10021 in 10027 Jul3 Aug14 Aug26 Aug3 Sep27 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 10012 Aug: 24 in 10013 Aug: 25 in 10014 Aug: 27 in 10020 Aug: 25 in 10021 Aug: 28 in 10022 Aug: 29 in 10023 Aug: 26 in 10024 Aug: 25 in 10025 Aug: 25 in 10026 Aug: 26 in 10027 Aug: 29 in 10028 Aug: 33 in 10029 Aug: 34 in 10030 Aug: 32 in 10031 Aug: 31 in 1001 Sep: 30 in 1002 Sep: 30 in 1003 Sep: 30 in 100 · this day

Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 3 Sep. 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 23,514 stories about harm among 79,444 counted on 3 Sep.

Read the day's briefing

Mentions of outbreaks ran about 10 times their usual in North Korea's news. of the day's 79,444 news stories, 30 in every 100 were about people being harmed, above the usual 26. North Korea stood out: 77% of its news was about people being harmed, usually 37%. On 3 September 2020, a year earlier, the share was 27 in every 100, against 30 today.

Written by code from the day's numbers.

Where it happened

feelings in full →
Feelings Events Harm Warmth
Kaduna, Nigeria -- attacks & violence: 10 stories, carried by 11 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Kabylie, Algeria -- protests & strikes: 6 stories, carried by 6 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Mullingar, Ireland -- accidents & disasters: 21 stories, carried by 17 outlets; harsh wording in 81 in 100Shenyang, China -- attacks & violence: 7 stories, carried by 9 outlets; harsh wording in 86 in 100Juba, South Sudan -- protests & strikes: 5 stories, carried by 9 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Anantnag, Kashmir -- attacks & violence: 6 stories, carried by 11 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Idlib, Syria -- attacks & violence: 10 stories, carried by 12 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Kerem Shalom, Israel -- protests & strikes: 7 stories, carried by 14 outlets; harsh wording in 86 in 100Warsaw, Poland -- people displaced: 13 stories, carried by 17 outlets; harsh wording in 85 in 100Parbat, Nepal -- accidents & disasters: 7 stories, carried by 16 outlets; harsh wording in 86 in 100Moscow, Russia -- attacks & violence: 50 stories, carried by 52 outlets; harsh wording in 82 in 100Berlin, Germany -- disease & outbreaks: 45 stories, carried by 38 outlets; harsh wording in 53 in 100Ahrweiler, Germany -- accidents & disasters: 7 stories, carried by 31 outlets; harsh wording in 71 in 100Poonch, Kashmir -- attacks & violence: 9 stories, carried by 20 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Damascus, Syria -- attacks & violence: 20 stories, carried by 42 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Pyongyang, North Korea -- disease & outbreaks: 26 stories, carried by 76 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Tigray, Ethiopia -- attacks & violence: 29 stories, carried by 127 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Marib, Yemen -- attacks & violence: 13 stories, carried by 103 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Wellington, New Zealand -- attacks & violence: 90 stories, carried by 297 outlets; harsh wording in 88 in 100Panjshir, Afghanistan -- attacks & violence: 90 stories, carried by 140 outlets; harsh wording in 99 in 100New Lynn, New Zealand -- attacks & violence: 116 stories, carried by 263 outlets; harsh wording in 97 in 100Philadelphia, US -- accidents & disasters: 218 stories, carried by 470 outlets; harsh wording in 91 in 100Kabul, Afghanistan -- attacks & violence: 753 stories, carried by 870 outlets; harsh wording in 88 in 100New Orleans, US -- accidents & disasters: 288 stories, carried by 612 outlets; harsh wording in 93 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
● 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

The week in human impact

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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.