← 18 Aug Friday 19 August 2022 · to 23:59 UTC 20 Aug →
What the world's news said happened to people.
Counts of coverage, not of suffering
16,025 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 →

A disaster in el Tarf, protests in Matagalpa (Nicaragua) and abductions in Syria drew the news. Syria's coverage was about three times as angry as the world's. In the world's news as a whole, the wording was about as usual.

Reports of abductions ran at about twice the usual rate, most often about the US and Nigeria →
Part of lifeHealth 39 in 100 of the stories about harm · about as usual Country that rose mostAustria 51 in 100 of its 74 stories, usually 23
RegionMiddle East & North Africa 39 in 100 of its stories, usually 34
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 →
Disasters & accidents

Algeria

42 of its 48 stories (88%) were about people being harmed, usually 32%. el Tarf accounted for 20 of Algeria's 42 stories about harm, carried by 39 outlets. Reports of arrests ran at more than ten times the usual rate (18 stories). Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's.

Protests & strikes

Nicaragua

22 of its 24 stories (92%) were about people being harmed, usually 50%. Matagalpa accounted for 12 of Nicaragua's 22 stories about harm, carried by 42 outlets. 8 of Matagalpa's 12 stories were about protests or strikes. Its coverage was about one and a half times as angry as the world's.

Conflict & violence

Syria

75 of its 108 stories (69%) were about people being harmed, usually 54%. Reports of abductions ran at about 5 times the usual rate (12 stories). Its coverage was about three times as angry as the world's.

6 more places the news pointed at
Disasters & accidents

Austria

38 of its 74 stories (51%) were about people being harmed, usually 23%. Reports of people injured ran at more than ten times the usual rate (25 stories). Flooding was named in 10 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual, with heavy rain. Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's.

Conflict & violence

Iraq

40 of its 64 stories (62%) were about people being harmed, usually 45%. Reports of people affected ran at about 4 times the usual rate (10 stories). Covid was named in 11 of its stories about harm, about 6 times usual.

Disasters & accidents

Mexico

105 of its 294 stories (36%) were about people being harmed, usually 25%. Reports of people displaced ran at more than ten times the usual rate (7 stories). Hurricane was named in 17 of its stories about harm, about 8 times usual.

Disasters & accidents

Argentina

23 of its 78 stories (29%) were about people being harmed, usually 20%. Buenos Aires accounted for 21 of Argentina's 23 stories about harm, carried by 49 outlets. Reports of arrests ran at about three times the usual rate (6 stories).

Disasters & accidents

Haiti

20 of its 30 stories (67%) were about people being harmed, usually 51%. Reports of people injured ran at about twice the usual rate (6 stories). Earthquake was named in 10 of its stories about harm, about three times usual.

Conflict & violence

Afghanistan

Kabul accounted for 92 of Afghanistan's 122 stories about harm, carried by 114 outlets. Hunger was named in 13 of its stories about harm, about three times usual. Its coverage was about one and a half times as fearful as the world's.

Also named far more than usual: outbreaks in South Korea (31 of its stories, about three times its usual); earthquake in Haiti (10 of its stories, about three times its usual); covid in Iraq (11 of its stories, about 6 times its usual); illness in Iran (13 of its stories, about 4 times its usual); flooding in Austria (10 of its stories, more than ten times its usual).

22 in 100 stories were about harm

usually 22; 21 the day before
24 in 10020 in 10021 Jul28 Jul4 Aug11 Aug19 Aug21 Jul: 21 in 10022 Jul: 21 in 10023 Jul: 23 in 10024 Jul: 24 in 10025 Jul: 22 in 10026 Jul: 22 in 10027 Jul: 21 in 10028 Jul: 21 in 10029 Jul: 21 in 10030 Jul: 23 in 10031 Jul: 23 in 1001 Aug: 21 in 1002 Aug: 21 in 1003 Aug: 20 in 1004 Aug: 21 in 1005 Aug: 22 in 1006 Aug: 23 in 1007 Aug: 24 in 1008 Aug: 22 in 1009 Aug: 21 in 10010 Aug: 21 in 10011 Aug: 21 in 10012 Aug: 22 in 10013 Aug: 23 in 10014 Aug: 23 in 10015 Aug: 22 in 10016 Aug: 21 in 10017 Aug: 21 in 10018 Aug: 21 in 10019 Aug: 22 in 100 · this day

Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 19 Aug. 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 16,025 stories about harm among 73,923 counted on 19 Aug.

Read the day's briefing

The news turned to Algeria for the third day running. 22 in every 100 of the day's 73,923 news stories were about people being harmed, as usual. In Algeria, 88% of the news was about people being harmed, where 32% is usual. Abductions were reported at about twice the usual rate, most often about the US and Nigeria. Mentions of outbreaks ran about three times their usual in South Korea's news.

Written by code from the day's numbers.

Where it happened

feelings in full →
Feelings Events Harm Warmth
Mogadishu, Somalia -- attacks & violence: 18 stories, carried by 18 outlets; harsh wording in 89 in 100Dieppe, Canada -- attacks & violence: 17 stories, carried by 24 outlets; harsh wording in 88 in 100Al-Bab, Syria -- attacks & violence: 18 stories, carried by 23 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Chongqing, China -- accidents & disasters: 21 stories, carried by 28 outlets; harsh wording in 90 in 100Damascus, Syria -- attacks & violence: 17 stories, carried by 22 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Madrid, Spain -- accidents & disasters: 14 stories, carried by 38 outlets; harsh wording in 71 in 100Managua, Nicaragua -- protests & strikes: 9 stories, carried by 31 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Lower Austria, Austria -- accidents & disasters: 10 stories, carried by 22 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Matagalpa, Nicaragua -- protests & strikes: 12 stories, carried by 42 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Jerusalem, Israel -- attacks & violence: 52 stories, carried by 65 outlets; harsh wording in 90 in 100Bali, Indonesia -- attacks & violence: 20 stories, carried by 69 outlets; harsh wording in 90 in 100Ramallah, Palestine -- attacks & violence: 22 stories, carried by 45 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Sichuan, China -- accidents & disasters: 30 stories, carried by 90 outlets; harsh wording in 97 in 100El Tarf, Algeria -- accidents & disasters: 20 stories, carried by 39 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Seoul, South Korea -- disease & outbreaks: 52 stories, carried by 57 outlets; harsh wording in 88 in 100Chisinau, Moldova -- attacks & violence: 6 stories, carried by 58 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Moscow, Russia -- attacks & violence: 137 stories, carried by 139 outlets; harsh wording in 94 in 100Kabul, Afghanistan -- attacks & violence: 92 stories, carried by 114 outlets; harsh wording in 95 in 100Mattapoisett, US -- accidents & disasters: 27 stories, carried by 82 outlets; harsh wording in 93 in 100Colombo, Sri Lanka -- protests & strikes: 25 stories, carried by 110 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Kyiv, Ukraine -- attacks & violence: 71 stories, carried by 194 outlets; harsh wording in 99 in 100Lviv, Ukraine -- attacks & violence: 29 stories, carried by 127 outlets; harsh wording in 97 in 100Bejis, Spain -- accidents & disasters: 7 stories, carried by 94 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Watsonville, US -- deaths, cause not given: 90 stories, carried by 333 outlets; harsh wording in 97 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.