← 27 Sep Thursday 28 September 2023 · to 23:59 UTC 29 Sep →
What the world's news said happened to people.
Counts of coverage, not of suffering
19,970 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 a disaster in Qaraqosh, protests in Ouagadougou (Burkina Faso) and arrests in Romania. Iraq's coverage was about three times as grief-stricken as the world's. Over the whole world, the tone was softer than usual.

Part of lifeHealth 33 in 100 of the stories about harm · more than usual Country that rose mostIraq 72 in 100 of its 173 stories, usually 48
RegionCentral Asia 27 in 100 of its stories, usually 14
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

Iraq

125 of its 173 stories (72%) were about people being harmed, usually 48%. Qaraqosh accounted for 47 of Iraq's 125 stories about harm, carried by 79 outlets. Reports of arrests ran at about 4 times the usual rate (44 stories). Poisoning was named in 10 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual. Its coverage was about three times as grief-stricken as the world's.

Protests & strikes

Burkina Faso

52 of its 71 stories (73%) were about people being harmed, usually 53%. Ouagadougou accounted for 36 of Burkina Faso's 52 stories about harm, carried by 91 outlets. 27 of Ouagadougou's 36 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of arrests ran at more than ten times the usual rate (40 stories).

Health

Romania

36 of its 199 stories (18%) were about people being harmed, usually 10%. Reports of arrests ran at about 4 times the usual rate (5 stories). Illness was named in 13 of its stories about harm, about three times usual. Its coverage was about one and a half times as angry as the world's.

Conflict & violence

Netherlands

144 of its 413 stories (35%) were about people being harmed, usually 15%. Reports of people injured ran at more than ten times the usual rate (34 stories). Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's.

6 more places the news pointed at
Disasters & accidents

Uzbekistan

43 of its 93 stories (46%) were about people being harmed, usually 20%. Tashkent accounted for 39 of Uzbekistan's 43 stories about harm, carried by 82 outlets. Reports of people injured ran at more than ten times the usual rate (33 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as grief-stricken as the world's.

Displacement

Armenia

123 of its 257 stories (48%) were about people being harmed, usually 34%. Reports of people displaced ran at about 5 times the usual rate (34 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as angry as the world's.

Rights & justice

Haiti

39 of its 64 stories (61%) were about people being harmed, usually 47%. Port-au-Prince accounted for 23 of Haiti's 39 stories about harm, carried by 32 outlets. Reports of people displaced ran at about three times the usual rate (10 stories).

Health

Cambodia

49 of its 119 stories (41%) were about people being harmed, usually 24%. Its coverage was about one and a half times as warm as the world's.

Rights & justice

North Korea

62 of its 183 stories (34%) were about people being harmed, usually 20%. Pyongyang accounted for 45 of North Korea's 62 stories about harm, carried by 110 outlets.

Conflict & violence

Niger

13 of its 20 stories (65%) were about people being harmed, usually 39%. Reports of people killed ran at about twice the usual rate (7 stories).

Also named far more than usual: volcanic eruption in Costa Rica (15 of its stories, about 6 times its usual); earthquake in Kenya (19 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); power cuts in Greece (15 of its stories, about 6 times its usual); landslides in Vietnam (11 of its stories, about 9 times its usual); flu in South Africa (21 of its stories, about 6 times its usual).

17 in 100 stories were about harm

usually 18; 17 the day before
20 in 10017 in 10030 Aug6 Sep13 Sep20 Sep28 Sep30 Aug: 19 in 10031 Aug: 20 in 1001 Sep: 18 in 1002 Sep: 19 in 1003 Sep: 19 in 1004 Sep: 18 in 1005 Sep: 18 in 1006 Sep: 18 in 1007 Sep: 17 in 1008 Sep: 17 in 1009 Sep: 19 in 10010 Sep: 19 in 10011 Sep: 19 in 10012 Sep: 18 in 10013 Sep: 18 in 10014 Sep: 18 in 10015 Sep: 18 in 10016 Sep: 19 in 10017 Sep: 18 in 10018 Sep: 18 in 10019 Sep: 18 in 10020 Sep: 18 in 10021 Sep: 18 in 10022 Sep: 17 in 10023 Sep: 18 in 10024 Sep: 18 in 10025 Sep: 18 in 10026 Sep: 17 in 10027 Sep: 17 in 10028 Sep: 17 in 100 · this day

Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 28 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 19,970 stories about harm among 117,071 counted on 28 Sep.

Read the day's briefing

The share of stories about people being harmed was the lowest since 22 March 2023. 17 in every 100 of the day's 117,071 news stories were about people being harmed, below the usual 18. For the second day running, the news turned to Iraq. Costa Rica's news mentioned volcanic eruption about 6 times as often as usual. On 28 September 2022, a year earlier, the share was 21 in every 100, against 17 today.

Written by code from the day's numbers.

Where it happened

feelings in full →
Feelings Events Harm Warmth
Derna, Libya -- accidents & disasters: 33 stories, carried by 29 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Gipuzkoa, Spain -- protests & strikes: 5 stories, carried by 23 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Berlin, Germany -- people displaced: 48 stories, carried by 81 outlets; harsh wording in 88 in 100Imphal, India -- protests & strikes: 40 stories, carried by 30 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Lampedusa, Italy -- people displaced: 10 stories, carried by 47 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Wexford, Ireland -- accidents & disasters: 25 stories, carried by 50 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Moscow, Russia -- attacks & violence: 73 stories, carried by 75 outlets; harsh wording in 95 in 100Manipur, India -- protests & strikes: 92 stories, carried by 57 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Athens, Greece -- accidents & disasters: 32 stories, carried by 113 outlets; harsh wording in 84 in 100Minh Hong, Vietnam -- protests & strikes: 21 stories, carried by 57 outlets; harsh wording in 90 in 100Nairobi, Kenya -- accidents & disasters: 12 stories, carried by 70 outlets; harsh wording in 92 in 100Qaraqosh, Iraq -- accidents & disasters: 47 stories, carried by 79 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Artsakh, Azerbaijan -- attacks & violence: 56 stories, carried by 81 outlets; harsh wording in 98 in 100Yerevan, Armenia -- people displaced: 48 stories, carried by 89 outlets; harsh wording in 96 in 100Karabakh, Russia -- attacks & violence: 41 stories, carried by 71 outlets; harsh wording in 98 in 100Tashkent, Uzbekistan -- accidents & disasters: 39 stories, carried by 82 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Baku, Azerbaijan -- attacks & violence: 39 stories, carried by 84 outlets; harsh wording in 95 in 100Ottawa, Canada -- attacks & violence: 115 stories, carried by 139 outlets; harsh wording in 86 in 100Miami, US -- accidents & disasters: 63 stories, carried by 132 outlets; harsh wording in 90 in 100Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso -- protests & strikes: 36 stories, carried by 91 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Jerusalem, Israel -- attacks & violence: 100 stories, carried by 197 outlets; harsh wording in 91 in 100Kyiv, Ukraine -- attacks & violence: 85 stories, carried by 116 outlets; harsh wording in 94 in 100Rotterdam, Netherlands -- attacks & violence: 52 stories, carried by 227 outlets; harsh wording in 98 in 100Hawaiian, US -- accidents & disasters: 67 stories, carried by 224 outlets; harsh wording in 90 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.