← 29 Sep Thursday 30 September 2021 · to 23:59 UTC 1 Oct →
What the world's news said happened to people.
Counts of coverage, not of suffering
24,475 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 day's news pointed at protests in Guayaquil (Ecuador), the hunger in Haiti and abductions in the UK. Ecuador's coverage was about three times as grief-stricken as the world's. Over the whole world, the tone was about as usual.

Part of lifeHealth 58 in 100 of the stories about harm · about as usual Country that rose mostEcuador 87 in 100 of its 151 stories, usually 39
RegionLatin America & Caribbean 38 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 →
Protests & strikes

Ecuador

131 of its 151 stories (87%) were about people being harmed, usually 39%. Guayaquil accounted for 101 of Ecuador's 131 stories about harm, carried by 233 outlets. 55 of Guayaquil's 101 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of people injured ran at about 4 times the usual rate (105 stories). Its coverage was about three times as grief-stricken as the world's. Anger in its coverage rose to about one and a half times its own usual.

Rights & justice

Haiti

69 of its 97 stories (71%) were about people being harmed, usually 52%. Hunger was named in 15 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual. Its coverage was about one and a half times as fearful as the world's.

Health

UK

Reports of abductions ran at about 6 times the usual rate (44 stories). Malaria was named in 10 of its stories about harm, about 6 times usual. Its coverage was about one and a half times as fearful as the world's. Anger in its coverage rose to about one and a half times its own usual.

6 more places the news pointed at
Protests & strikes

Bangladesh

91 of its 168 stories (54%) were about people being harmed, usually 45%. 12 of Kutupalong's 24 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of refugees ran at about 8 times the usual rate (19 stories). Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's. Anger in its coverage rose to about one and a half times its own usual.

Rights & justice

Germany

220 of its 728 stories (30%) were about people being harmed, usually 24%. Reports of arrests ran at about 4 times the usual rate (22 stories). Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's.

Disasters & accidents

Bermuda

29 of its 46 stories (63%) were about people being harmed, usually 42%. Tropical storm was named in 20 of its stories about harm, about three times usual.

Protests & strikes

Slovenia

26 of its 59 stories (44%) were about people being harmed, usually 28%. 13 of Ljubljana's 19 stories were about protests or strikes.

Rights & justice

Poland

53 of its 149 stories (36%) were about people being harmed, usually 26%. Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's.

Conflict & violence

Sudan

37 of its 71 stories (52%) were about people being harmed, usually 42%. Khartoum accounted for 29 of Sudan's 37 stories about harm, carried by 43 outlets.

Also named far more than usual: tropical storm in Bermuda (20 of its stories, about three times its usual); flooding in Thailand (20 of its stories, about 5 times its usual); cyclone in Pakistan (24 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); natural hazards in South Korea (12 of its stories, about 10 times its usual); power cuts in China (37 of its stories, about 9 times its usual).

25 in 100 stories were about harm

usually 28; 25 the day before
32 in 10025 in 1001 Sep8 Sep15 Sep22 Sep30 Sep1 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 10026 Sep: 26 in 10027 Sep: 25 in 10028 Sep: 25 in 10029 Sep: 25 in 10030 Sep: 25 in 100 · this day

Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 30 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 24,475 stories about harm among 98,954 counted on 30 Sep.

Read the day's briefing

It was the lowest share of stories about people being harmed since 12 August 2021. For the second day running, the news turned to Ecuador. Ecuador stood out: 87% of its news was about people being harmed, usually 39%. 25 in every 100 of the day's 98,954 news stories were about people being harmed, below the usual 28.

Written by code from the day's numbers.

Where it happened

feelings in full →
Feelings Events Harm Warmth
Kaduna, Nigeria -- attacks & violence: 24 stories, carried by 17 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Balakot, Pakistan -- attacks & violence: 5 stories, carried by 17 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Ljubljana, Slovenia -- protests & strikes: 19 stories, carried by 18 outlets; harsh wording in 95 in 100Panjshir, Afghanistan -- attacks & violence: 14 stories, carried by 18 outlets; harsh wording in 93 in 100Idlib, Syria -- attacks & violence: 23 stories, carried by 21 outlets; harsh wording in 91 in 100Peshawar, Pakistan -- attacks & violence: 20 stories, carried by 28 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Damascus, Syria -- attacks & violence: 18 stories, carried by 20 outlets; harsh wording in 89 in 100Ankara, Türkiye -- attacks & violence: 15 stories, carried by 20 outlets; harsh wording in 93 in 100Osnabruck, Germany -- attacks & violence: 8 stories, carried by 22 outlets; harsh wording in 88 in 100Nuevo Laredo, Mexico -- protests & strikes: 5 stories, carried by 19 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Minsk, Belarus -- protests & strikes: 25 stories, carried by 28 outlets; harsh wording in 96 in 100Khartoum, Sudan -- attacks & violence: 29 stories, carried by 43 outlets; harsh wording in 90 in 100Yangon, Myanmar -- protests & strikes: 9 stories, carried by 36 outlets; harsh wording in 89 in 100Jenin, Palestine -- attacks & violence: 30 stories, carried by 31 outlets; harsh wording in 97 in 100Canary Islands, Spain -- accidents & disasters: 9 stories, carried by 47 outlets; harsh wording in 78 in 100Jerusalem, Israel -- attacks & violence: 117 stories, carried by 84 outlets; harsh wording in 80 in 100Tigray, Ethiopia -- attacks & violence: 43 stories, carried by 105 outlets; harsh wording in 98 in 100Tehran, Iran -- attacks & violence: 45 stories, carried by 84 outlets; harsh wording in 96 in 100Kutupalong, Bangladesh -- protests & strikes: 24 stories, carried by 88 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Kabul, Afghanistan -- attacks & violence: 259 stories, carried by 244 outlets; harsh wording in 93 in 100Guayaquil, Ecuador -- protests & strikes: 101 stories, carried by 233 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Walker River, US -- protests & strikes: 8 stories, carried by 135 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100La Palma, Spain -- accidents & disasters: 19 stories, carried by 143 outlets; harsh wording in 95 in 100Hawaiian Volcano Observatory, US -- accidents & disasters: 70 stories, carried by 289 outlets; harsh wording in 99 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

Read the week →

Unlock a year of trends, free. Follow up to 5 countries, with a bell when their news changes, and 👍 vote for Pro — ten years of the archive, any period, daily alerts.

Create a free account

Sign in · a username, an email and a password.

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.