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What the world's news said happened to people.
Counts of coverage, not of suffering
14,289 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 Mogadishu, protests in Havana (Cuba) and abductions in China drew the news. Somalia's coverage was about three times as grief-stricken as the world's. Everywhere we counted, the words were about as usual.

Part of lifeHealth 56 in 100 of the stories about harm · about as usual Country that rose mostSomalia 75 in 100 of its 76 stories, usually 51
RegionEast Asia 30 in 100 of its stories, usually 23
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

Somalia

57 of its 76 stories (75%) were about people being harmed, usually 51%. Mogadishu accounted for 42 of Somalia's 57 stories about harm, carried by 75 outlets. Reports of people injured ran at about 6 times the usual rate (30 stories). Its coverage was about three times as grief-stricken as the world's.

Protests & strikes

Cuba

50 of its 71 stories (70%) were about people being harmed, usually 50%. Havana accounted for 28 of Cuba's 50 stories about harm, carried by 23 outlets. 14 of Havana's 28 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of arrests ran at about 4 times the usual rate (11 stories).

Health

China

398 of its 1,162 stories (34%) were about people being harmed, usually 26%. Reports of abductions ran at more than ten times the usual rate (10 stories). Tsunami was named in 11 of its stories about harm, about 8 times usual.

Disasters & accidents

Spain

120 of its 364 stories (33%) were about people being harmed, usually 24%. Reports of arrests ran at about three times the usual rate (12 stories).

6 more places the news pointed at
Conflict & violence

Pakistan

303 of its 647 stories (47%) were about people being harmed, usually 36%. Reports of refugees ran at about twice the usual rate (11 stories). Its coverage was about twice as fearful as the world's.

Conflict & violence

Ethiopia

42 of its 63 stories (67%) were about people being harmed, usually 54%. Tigray accounted for 35 of Ethiopia's 42 stories about harm, carried by 182 outlets. Its coverage was about one and a half times as angry as the world's.

Conflict & violence

Afghanistan

Kabul accounted for 155 of Afghanistan's 314 stories about harm, carried by 330 outlets. Reports of abductions ran at more than ten times the usual rate (42 stories). Its coverage was about twice as fearful as the world's.

Conflict & violence

Mali

31 of its 47 stories (66%) were about people being harmed, usually 40%. Its coverage was about one and a half times as angry as the world's.

Health

Singapore

44 of its 101 stories (44%) were about people being harmed, usually 32%. Reports of people affected ran at about three times the usual rate (8 stories).

Protests & strikes

Belarus

9 of its 16 stories (56%) were about people being harmed, usually 29%. 4 of Minsk's 4 stories were about protests or strikes.

Also named far more than usual: outbreaks in South Korea (11 of its stories, about 4 times its usual); natural hazards in Mexico (11 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); cyclone in India (34 of its stories, about 9 times its usual).

27 in 100 stories were about harm

usually 29; 27 the day before
34 in 10027 in 10027 Aug3 Sep10 Sep17 Sep25 Sep27 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 10020 Sep: 28 in 10021 Sep: 27 in 10022 Sep: 27 in 10023 Sep: 27 in 10024 Sep: 27 in 10025 Sep: 27 in 100 · this day

Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 25 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 14,289 stories about harm among 53,038 counted on 25 Sep.

Read the day's briefing

In South Korea's news, mentions of outbreaks ran about 4 times their usual. Somalia stood out: 75% of its news was about people being harmed, usually 51%. 27 in every 100 of the day's 53,038 news stories were about people being harmed, below the usual 29. On 25 September 2020, a year earlier, the share was 26 in every 100, against 27 today.

Written by code from the day's numbers.

Where it happened

feelings in full →
Feelings Events Harm Warmth
Beita, Palestine -- protests & strikes: 15 stories, carried by 13 outlets; harsh wording in 93 in 100Idlib, Syria -- attacks & violence: 15 stories, carried by 11 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Kalingapatnam, India -- accidents & disasters: 10 stories, carried by 10 outlets; harsh wording in 90 in 100Khartoum, Sudan -- attacks & violence: 11 stories, carried by 15 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Dover, UK -- protests & strikes: 9 stories, carried by 12 outlets; harsh wording in 89 in 100Havana, Cuba -- protests & strikes: 28 stories, carried by 23 outlets; harsh wording in 75 in 100Damascus, Syria -- attacks & violence: 14 stories, carried by 16 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Marib, Yemen -- attacks & violence: 12 stories, carried by 13 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Jalalabad, Afghanistan -- attacks & violence: 8 stories, carried by 14 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Darrang, India -- protests & strikes: 28 stories, carried by 22 outlets; harsh wording in 96 in 100Bamako, Mali -- attacks & violence: 14 stories, carried by 17 outlets; harsh wording in 86 in 100Kharan, Pakistan -- attacks & violence: 7 stories, carried by 19 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Seoul, South Korea -- disease & outbreaks: 25 stories, carried by 25 outlets; harsh wording in 92 in 100Cabo Delgado, Mozambique -- attacks & violence: 12 stories, carried by 23 outlets; harsh wording in 92 in 100Canary Islands, Spain -- accidents & disasters: 7 stories, carried by 29 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Islamabad, Pakistan -- attacks & violence: 110 stories, carried by 80 outlets; harsh wording in 85 in 100Ciudad, Mexico -- protests & strikes: 11 stories, carried by 62 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Mogadishu, Somalia -- attacks & violence: 42 stories, carried by 75 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Port-au-Prince, Haiti -- protests & strikes: 14 stories, carried by 91 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Dunmore, US -- attacks & violence: 21 stories, carried by 85 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Tigray, Ethiopia -- attacks & violence: 35 stories, carried by 182 outlets; harsh wording in 94 in 100Kabul, Afghanistan -- attacks & violence: 155 stories, carried by 330 outlets; harsh wording in 92 in 100Shasta County, US -- accidents & disasters: 35 stories, carried by 287 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100La Palma, Spain -- accidents & disasters: 53 stories, carried by 321 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

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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.