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What the world's news said happened to people.
Counts of coverage, not of suffering
11,186 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 →

Violence in Kirkuk, protests in Cetinje (Montenegro) and illness in Colombo drew the news. Iraq's coverage was about three times as angry as the world's. Across the world, the tone of the words was harsher than usual.

Part of lifeHealth 51 in 100 of the stories about harm · about as usual Country that rose mostIraq 74 in 100 of its 92 stories, usually 43
RegionOceania 38 in 100 of its stories, usually 30
Tone of the words Harsher than usual across the world's stories about harm

What the world's news was about today

how these are picked →
Conflict & violence

Iraq

68 of its 92 stories (74%) were about people being harmed, usually 43%. Kirkuk accounted for 38 of Iraq's 68 stories about harm, carried by 54 outlets. Reports of people injured ran at about 6 times the usual rate (32 stories). Its coverage was about three times as angry as the world's.

Protests & strikes

Montenegro

19 of its 33 stories (58%) were about people being harmed, usually 22%. Cetinje accounted for 19 of Montenegro's 19 stories about harm, carried by 270 outlets. 19 of Cetinje's 19 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of people injured ran at about 6 times the usual rate (6 stories).

Health

Sri Lanka

58 of its 119 stories (49%) were about people being harmed, usually 42%. Colombo accounted for 38 of Sri Lanka's 58 stories about harm, carried by 31 outlets. Reports of people injured ran at about three times the usual rate (7 stories). Fear in its coverage rose to about one and a half times its own usual.

6 more places the news pointed at
Conflict & violence

Saudi Arabia

79 of its 173 stories (46%) were about people being harmed, usually 29%. Dammam accounted for 43 of Saudi Arabia's 79 stories about harm, carried by 67 outlets. Reports of people displaced ran at more than ten times the usual rate (13 stories). Its coverage was about three times as angry as the world's.

Conflict & violence

New Zealand

181 of its 339 stories (53%) were about people being harmed, usually 31%. Reports of people injured ran at about 6 times the usual rate (65 stories). Its coverage was about twice as fearful as the world's.

Conflict & violence

Guinea

109 of its 188 stories (58%) were about people being harmed, usually 45%. Conakry accounted for 102 of Guinea's 109 stories about harm, carried by 359 outlets. Reports of arrests ran at about 6 times the usual rate (18 stories).

Conflict & violence

Pakistan

261 of its 563 stories (46%) were about people being harmed, usually 40%. Reports of people injured ran at about 4 times the usual rate (63 stories). Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's.

Health

Romania

14 of its 26 stories (54%) were about people being harmed, usually 18%. Reports of evacuations ran at about 7 times the usual rate (5 stories).

Health

Brazil

55 of its 152 stories (36%) were about people being harmed, usually 25%. Its coverage was about one and a half times as fearful as the world's.

Also named far more than usual: nipah virus in India (67 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); oil spill in US (55 of its stories, more than ten times its usual).

30 in 100 stories were about harm

usually 27; 30 the day before
34 in 10021 in 10029 Jul5 Aug21 Aug28 Aug5 Sep29 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 1004 Sep: 30 in 1005 Sep: 30 in 100 · this day

Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 5 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 11,186 stories about harm among 37,792 counted on 5 Sep.

Read the day's briefing

Stories about people being harmed made up 30 in every 100 of the day's 37,792 stories, above the usual 27. On 5 September 2020, a year earlier, the share was 29 in every 100, against 30 today. This week the news turned most often to New Zealand, on 3 of 7 days; help rose on 1 of them.

Written by code from the day's numbers.

Where it happened

feelings in full →
Feelings Events Harm Warmth
Konkan, India -- accidents & disasters: 5 stories, carried by 5 outlets; harsh wording in 80 in 100Gaza, Palestine -- protests & strikes: 7 stories, carried by 7 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Coffs Harbour, Australia -- deaths, cause not given: 7 stories, carried by 8 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Gorakhpur, India -- accidents & disasters: 6 stories, carried by 9 outlets; harsh wording in 67 in 100Sanaa, Yemen -- attacks & violence: 5 stories, carried by 5 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Revelstoke, Canada -- deaths, cause not given: 5 stories, carried by 6 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Khartoum, Sudan -- attacks & violence: 7 stories, carried by 15 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Katsina, Nigeria -- attacks & violence: 15 stories, carried by 14 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Auckland, New Zealand -- attacks & violence: 27 stories, carried by 31 outlets; harsh wording in 89 in 100Jizan, Saudi Arabia -- attacks & violence: 11 stories, carried by 15 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Tigray, Ethiopia -- attacks & violence: 15 stories, carried by 23 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Moscow, Russia -- attacks & violence: 30 stories, carried by 42 outlets; harsh wording in 93 in 100Wellington, New Zealand -- attacks & violence: 40 stories, carried by 48 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Baghdad, Iraq -- attacks & violence: 16 stories, carried by 39 outlets; harsh wording in 94 in 100Kirkuk, Iraq -- attacks & violence: 38 stories, carried by 54 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Dammam, Saudi Arabia -- attacks & violence: 43 stories, carried by 67 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Poole Harbour, UK -- accidents & disasters: 13 stories, carried by 145 outlets; harsh wording in 62 in 100Quetta, Pakistan -- attacks & violence: 58 stories, carried by 77 outlets; harsh wording in 97 in 100Panjshir, Afghanistan -- attacks & violence: 104 stories, carried by 108 outlets; harsh wording in 99 in 100Cetinje, Montenegro -- protests & strikes: 19 stories, carried by 270 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Conakry, Guinea -- attacks & violence: 102 stories, carried by 359 outlets; harsh wording in 98 in 100Kabul, Afghanistan -- attacks & violence: 410 stories, carried by 721 outlets; harsh wording in 89 in 100Polk County, US -- attacks & violence: 45 stories, carried by 518 outlets; harsh wording in 98 in 100New Orleans, US -- accidents & disasters: 125 stories, carried by 706 outlets; harsh wording in 94 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 harsher than usual. Filled dot: today. Ring: usual.

● Angerabout as usual
● Warmthabout as usual
● Griefa little more 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

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.