← 17 May Thursday 18 May 2023 · to 23:59 UTC 19 May →
What the world's news said happened to people.
Counts of coverage, not of suffering
22,426 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 →

Plane crash in Colombia, people killed in Sri Lanka and protests in Mexico City (Mexico) drew the news. Sri Lanka's coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's. Over the whole world, the tone was softer than usual.

Part of lifeHealth 31 in 100 of the stories about harm · about as usual Country that rose mostColombia 64 in 100 of its 195 stories, usually 27
RegionLatin America & Caribbean 26 in 100 of its stories, usually 22
Tone of the words Softer than usual across the world's stories about harm

What the world's news was about today

how these are picked →
Disasters & accidents

Colombia

124 of its 195 stories (64%) were about people being harmed, usually 27%. Guaviare accounted for 62 of Colombia's 124 stories about harm, carried by 89 outlets. Reports of people affected ran at about 6 times the usual rate (69 stories). Plane crash was named in 87 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual. Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's.

Conflict & violence

Sri Lanka

55 of its 144 stories (38%) were about people being harmed, usually 24%. Reports of people killed ran at about three times the usual rate (27 stories). Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's.

6 more places the news pointed at
Disasters & accidents

Italy

249 of its 941 stories (26%) were about people being harmed, usually 14%. Reports of people displaced ran at more than ten times the usual rate (7 stories). Flooding was named in 140 of its stories about harm, about 6 times usual, with landslides, heavy rain and drought.

Disasters & accidents

New Zealand

312 of its 947 stories (33%) were about people being harmed, usually 27%. Reports of people displaced ran at more than ten times the usual rate (12 stories). Power cuts were named in 11 of its stories about harm, about 5 times usual.

Displacement

Sudan

Khartoum accounted for 60 of Sudan's 111 stories about harm, carried by 76 outlets. Reports of people displaced ran at about three times the usual rate (44 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as angry as the world's.

Deaths & injuries, cause not given

Austria

27 of its 93 stories (29%) were about people being harmed, usually 15%. Reports of people killed ran at about three times the usual rate (10 stories).

Health

Lesotho

9 of its 15 stories (60%) were about people being harmed, usually 26%. Its coverage was about one and a half times as angry as the world's.

Rights & justice

El Salvador

12 of its 22 stories (55%) were about people being harmed, usually 32%. Its coverage was about one and a half times as grief-stricken as the world's.

Also named far more than usual: flooding in Italy (140 of its stories, about 6 times its usual); earthquake in Saudi Arabia (15 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); storms in Vietnam (12 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); flooding in Nigeria (43 of its stories, about 5 times its usual); train derailment in Ukraine (19 of its stories, about 5 times its usual).

18 in 100 stories were about harm

usually 18; 18 the day before
19 in 10017 in 10019 Apr26 Apr3 May10 May18 May19 Apr: 18 in 10020 Apr: 18 in 10021 Apr: 17 in 10022 Apr: 19 in 10023 Apr: 19 in 10024 Apr: 18 in 10025 Apr: 18 in 10026 Apr: 18 in 10027 Apr: 18 in 10028 Apr: 17 in 10029 Apr: 17 in 10030 Apr: 18 in 1001 May: 18 in 1002 May: 18 in 1003 May: 19 in 1004 May: 18 in 1005 May: 18 in 1006 May: 18 in 1007 May: 19 in 1008 May: 19 in 1009 May: 19 in 10010 May: 18 in 10011 May: 18 in 10012 May: 18 in 10013 May: 18 in 10014 May: 19 in 10015 May: 18 in 10016 May: 17 in 10017 May: 18 in 10018 May: 18 in 100 · this day

Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 18 May. 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 22,426 stories about harm among 125,577 counted on 18 May.

Read the day's briefing

In Colombia's news, mentions of plane crash ran more than ten times their usual. Stories about people being harmed made up 18 in every 100 of the day's 125,577 stories, as usual. Colombia's news was 64% about people being harmed, against a usual 27%. On 18 May 2022, a year earlier, the share was 22 in every 100, against 18 today.

Written by code from the day's numbers.

Where it happened

feelings in full →
Feelings Events Harm Warmth
Khartoum, Sudan -- attacks & violence: 60 stories, carried by 76 outlets; harsh wording in 98 in 100Mexico City, Mexico -- protests & strikes: 33 stories, carried by 60 outlets; harsh wording in 82 in 100Perth, Australia -- accidents & disasters: 19 stories, carried by 140 outlets; harsh wording in 42 in 100Caqueta, Colombia -- accidents & disasters: 20 stories, carried by 35 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Anambra, Nigeria -- attacks & violence: 68 stories, carried by 79 outlets; harsh wording in 97 in 100Istanbul, Türkiye -- attacks & violence: 37 stories, carried by 53 outlets; harsh wording in 92 in 100Jeddah, Saudi Arabia -- attacks & violence: 18 stories, carried by 83 outlets; harsh wording in 83 in 100Yuan Yu, China -- accidents & disasters: 22 stories, carried by 175 outlets; harsh wording in 23 in 100Prince George, Canada -- accidents & disasters: 16 stories, carried by 61 outlets; harsh wording in 88 in 100Mumbai, India -- attacks & violence: 116 stories, carried by 109 outlets; harsh wording in 85 in 100Hay River, Canada -- accidents & disasters: 10 stories, carried by 60 outlets; harsh wording in 90 in 100Paris, France -- accidents & disasters: 119 stories, carried by 228 outlets; harsh wording in 81 in 100Moscow, Russia -- attacks & violence: 123 stories, carried by 152 outlets; harsh wording in 93 in 100Tampa, US -- accidents & disasters: 53 stories, carried by 232 outlets; harsh wording in 45 in 100Bibb County, US -- deaths, cause not given: 15 stories, carried by 152 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Emilia Romagna, Italy -- accidents & disasters: 48 stories, carried by 91 outlets; harsh wording in 98 in 100Guaviare, Colombia -- accidents & disasters: 62 stories, carried by 89 outlets; harsh wording in 97 in 100Wellington, New Zealand -- accidents & disasters: 131 stories, carried by 172 outlets; harsh wording in 82 in 100Riyadh, Saudi Arabia -- attacks & violence: 16 stories, carried by 154 outlets; harsh wording in 94 in 100Jerusalem, Israel -- attacks & violence: 201 stories, carried by 281 outlets; harsh wording in 89 in 100Kyiv, Ukraine -- attacks & violence: 129 stories, carried by 294 outlets; harsh wording in 95 in 100Lahore, Pakistan -- attacks & violence: 133 stories, carried by 304 outlets; harsh wording in 99 in 100Forli, Italy -- accidents & disasters: 63 stories, carried by 241 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Hiroshima, Japan -- attacks & violence: 163 stories, carried by 474 outlets; harsh wording in 83 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 softer than 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.