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What the world's news said happened to people.
Counts of coverage, not of suffering
10,823 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 violence in Algiers, volcanic eruption in Spain and rights and justice in Jenin. Algeria's coverage was about three times as grief-stricken as the world's. Across the world, the tone of the words was about as usual.

Part of lifeHealth 54 in 100 of the stories about harm · about as usual Country that rose mostSpain 47 in 100 of its 290 stories, usually 19
RegionLatin America & Caribbean 43 in 100 of its stories, usually 35
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 →
Conflict & violence

Algeria

34 of its 54 stories (63%) were about people being harmed, usually 50%. Algiers accounted for 27 of Algeria's 34 stories about harm, carried by 111 outlets. Reports of people affected ran at about three times the usual rate (6 stories). Its coverage was about three times as grief-stricken as the world's.

Disasters & accidents

Spain

137 of its 290 stories (47%) were about people being harmed, usually 19%. Reports of evacuations ran at more than ten times the usual rate (59 stories). Volcanic eruption was named in 92 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual, with landslides.

6 more places the news pointed at
Disasters & accidents

Mexico

102 of its 188 stories (54%) were about people being harmed, usually 35%. Mexico City accounted for 66 of Mexico's 102 stories about harm, carried by 79 outlets. Reports of people killed ran at about three times the usual rate (70 stories).

Protests & strikes

Ukraine

24 of its 56 stories (43%) were about people being harmed, usually 25%. 10 of Kyiv's 11 stories were about protests or strikes. Its coverage was about one and a half times as angry as the world's.

Conflict & violence

Israel

192 of its 330 stories (58%) were about people being harmed, usually 51%. Reports of arrests ran at about three times the usual rate (78 stories). Its coverage was about twice as fearful as the world's.

Health

South Africa

137 of its 323 stories (42%) were about people being harmed, usually 36%. Reports of people injured ran at about twice the usual rate (8 stories). Road crashes were named in 15 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual.

Conflict & violence

Afghanistan

Kabul accounted for 194 of Afghanistan's 298 stories about harm, carried by 219 outlets. Covid was named in 38 of its stories about harm, about three times usual. Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's.

Disasters & accidents

Puerto Rico

14 of its 18 stories (78%) were about people being harmed, usually 29%. Hurricane was named in 10 of its stories about harm, about 5 times usual, with tropical storm.

Also named far more than usual: covid in Haiti (26 of its stories, about 5 times its usual); hurricane in Puerto Rico (10 of its stories, about 5 times its usual); covid in Afghanistan (38 of its stories, about three times its usual); road crashes in South Africa (15 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); drownings in India (13 of its stories, about 4 times its usual).

28 in 100 stories were about harm

usually 29; 28 the day before
34 in 10025 in 10021 Aug28 Aug4 Sep11 Sep19 Sep21 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 1006 Sep: 28 in 1007 Sep: 28 in 1008 Sep: 29 in 1009 Sep: 29 in 10010 Sep: 29 in 10011 Sep: 32 in 10012 Sep: 29 in 10013 Sep: 28 in 10014 Sep: 28 in 10015 Sep: 27 in 10016 Sep: 27 in 10017 Sep: 27 in 10018 Sep: 28 in 10019 Sep: 28 in 100 · this day

Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 19 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 10,823 stories about harm among 38,390 counted on 19 Sep.

Read the day's briefing

In Spain's news, mentions of volcanic eruption ran more than ten times their usual. Stories about people being harmed made up 28 in every 100 of the day's 38,390 stories, as usual. It was the second day running that the news turned to Algeria. On 19 September 2020, a year earlier, the share was 29 in every 100, against 28 today. Algeria stood out: 63% of its news was about people being harmed, usually 50%. This week the news turned most often to Afghanistan, on 3 of 7 days.

Written by code from the day's numbers.

Where it happened

feelings in full →
Feelings Events Harm Warmth
Damascus, Syria -- attacks & violence: 16 stories, carried by 11 outlets; harsh wording in 94 in 100Absard, Iran -- attacks & violence: 7 stories, carried by 9 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Nanjing, China -- attacks & violence: 6 stories, carried by 13 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Tehran, Iran -- attacks & violence: 25 stories, carried by 32 outlets; harsh wording in 92 in 100Johannesburg, South Africa -- accidents & disasters: 48 stories, carried by 35 outlets; harsh wording in 92 in 100Amsterdam, Netherlands -- attacks & violence: 8 stories, carried by 42 outlets; harsh wording in 88 in 100Jerusalem, Israel -- attacks & violence: 68 stories, carried by 73 outlets; harsh wording in 87 in 100Port-au-Prince, Haiti -- accidents & disasters: 19 stories, carried by 29 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Gilboa, Israel -- attacks & violence: 61 stories, carried by 45 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Jalalabad, Afghanistan -- attacks & violence: 23 stories, carried by 38 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Tafas, Syria -- attacks & violence: 5 stories, carried by 34 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Kyiv, Ukraine -- protests & strikes: 11 stories, carried by 85 outlets; harsh wording in 55 in 100Guizhou, China -- accidents & disasters: 18 stories, carried by 52 outlets; harsh wording in 94 in 100Bali, Indonesia -- attacks & violence: 16 stories, carried by 96 outlets; harsh wording in 88 in 100Mexico City, Mexico -- accidents & disasters: 66 stories, carried by 79 outlets; harsh wording in 95 in 100Kings Canyon, US -- accidents & disasters: 5 stories, carried by 94 outlets; harsh wording in 80 in 100Algiers, Algeria -- attacks & violence: 27 stories, carried by 111 outlets; harsh wording in 96 in 100Ciudad, Mexico -- accidents & disasters: 11 stories, carried by 90 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Kremlin, Russia -- protests & strikes: 99 stories, carried by 245 outlets; harsh wording in 94 in 100Kabul, Afghanistan -- attacks & violence: 194 stories, carried by 219 outlets; harsh wording in 92 in 100Sanaa, Yemen -- attacks & violence: 21 stories, carried by 173 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100La Palma, Spain -- accidents & disasters: 52 stories, carried by 164 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Giant Forest, US -- accidents & disasters: 30 stories, carried by 232 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Canary Islands, Spain -- accidents & disasters: 28 stories, carried by 289 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 about as 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.