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What the world's news said happened to people.
Counts of coverage, not of suffering
10,996 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 Beirut, deaths in Budapest and the earthquake in Taiwan drew the news. Lebanon's coverage was about three times as grief-stricken as the world's. Everywhere we counted, the words were harsher than usual.

Part of lifeRights & justice 26 in 100 of the stories about harm · about as usual Country that rose mostHungary 56 in 100 of its 62 stories, usually 19
RegionMiddle East & North Africa 56 in 100 of its stories, usually 46
Tone of the words Harsher than usual across the world's stories about harm

What the world's news was about today

how these are picked →
Conflict & violence

Lebanon

250 of its 314 stories (80%) were about people being harmed, usually 67%. Beirut accounted for 223 of Lebanon's 250 stories about harm, carried by 401 outlets. Reports of abductions ran at about twice the usual rate (6 stories). Its coverage was about three times as grief-stricken as the world's.

Deaths & injuries, cause not given

Hungary

35 of its 62 stories (56%) were about people being harmed, usually 19%. Budapest accounted for 30 of Hungary's 35 stories about harm, carried by 63 outlets. Reports of people injured ran at about 5 times the usual rate (12 stories).

Disasters & accidents

Taiwan

39 of its 99 stories (39%) were about people being harmed, usually 17%. Reports of people injured ran at about 6 times the usual rate (14 stories). Earthquake was named in 14 of its stories about harm, about 5 times usual.

6 more places the news pointed at
Conflict & violence

Kashmir

54 of its 143 stories (38%) were about people being harmed, usually 28%. Jammu accounted for 36 of Kashmir's 54 stories about harm, carried by 27 outlets. Reports of people injured ran at about three times the usual rate (16 stories). Its coverage was about twice as fearful as the world's. Grief in its coverage rose to about one and a half times its own usual.

Conflict & violence

Indonesia

58 of its 150 stories (39%) were about people being harmed, usually 23%. Reports of abductions ran at more than ten times the usual rate (14 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as warm as the world's.

Conflict & violence

Israel

603 of its 765 stories (79%) were about people being harmed, usually 67%. Reports of evacuations ran at about three times the usual rate (48 stories). Its coverage was about three times as angry as the world's.

Disasters & accidents

Netherlands

35 of its 137 stories (26%) were about people being harmed, usually 14%. Reports of people killed ran at about 4 times the usual rate (19 stories). Anger in its coverage rose to about one and a half times its own usual.

Rights & justice

Malaysia

61 of its 223 stories (27%) were about people being harmed, usually 20%. Reports of arrests ran at about twice the usual rate (30 stories). Flooding was named in 10 of its stories about harm, about three times usual.

Disasters & accidents

Japan

101 of its 563 stories (18%) were about people being harmed, usually 11%. Reports of evacuations ran at more than ten times the usual rate (35 stories). Earthquake was named in 60 of its stories about harm, about 6 times usual, with heavy rain, landslides and flooding.

Also named far more than usual: earthquake in Japan (60 of its stories, about 6 times its usual); covid in Germany (29 of its stories, about 10 times its usual); snowstorms in South Africa (15 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); polio in Pakistan (22 of its stories, about three times its usual); flooding in Malaysia (10 of its stories, about three times its usual).

19 in 100 stories were about harm

usually 18; 18 the day before
20 in 10017 in 10023 Aug30 Aug6 Sep13 Sep21 Sep23 Aug: 18 in 10024 Aug: 19 in 10025 Aug: 20 in 10026 Aug: 19 in 10027 Aug: 18 in 10028 Aug: 18 in 10029 Aug: 18 in 10030 Aug: 18 in 10031 Aug: 19 in 1001 Sep: 20 in 1002 Sep: 19 in 1003 Sep: 19 in 1004 Sep: 18 in 1005 Sep: 17 in 1006 Sep: 18 in 1007 Sep: 18 in 1008 Sep: 19 in 1009 Sep: 19 in 10010 Sep: 18 in 10011 Sep: 19 in 10012 Sep: 19 in 10013 Sep: 18 in 10014 Sep: 18 in 10015 Sep: 18 in 10016 Sep: 18 in 10017 Sep: 19 in 10018 Sep: 19 in 10019 Sep: 19 in 10020 Sep: 18 in 10021 Sep: 19 in 100 · this day

Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 21 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 10,996 stories about harm among 58,372 counted on 21 Sep.

Read the day's briefing

In Japan's news, mentions of the earthquake ran about 6 times their usual. Stories about people being harmed made up 19 in every 100 of the day's 58,372 stories, as usual. A year earlier, on 22 September 2023, 17 in every 100 stories were about people being harmed, against 19 today. In Lebanon, 80% of the news was about people being harmed, where 67% is usual.

Written by code from the day's numbers.

Where it happened

feelings in full →
Feelings Events Harm Warmth
Pyongyang, North Korea -- protests & strikes: 11 stories, carried by 25 outlets; harsh wording in 91 in 100Jammu, Kashmir -- attacks & violence: 36 stories, carried by 27 outlets; harsh wording in 92 in 100Kyiv, Ukraine -- attacks & violence: 31 stories, carried by 30 outlets; harsh wording in 87 in 100Tehran, Iran -- attacks & violence: 28 stories, carried by 32 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Reykjavik, Iceland -- accidents & disasters: 13 stories, carried by 25 outlets; harsh wording in 92 in 100Panja, India -- accidents & disasters: 21 stories, carried by 25 outlets; harsh wording in 86 in 100Wolfheze, Netherlands -- accidents & disasters: 14 stories, carried by 45 outlets; harsh wording in 86 in 100Manipur, India -- attacks & violence: 28 stories, carried by 32 outlets; harsh wording in 93 in 100Budapest, Hungary -- deaths, cause not given: 30 stories, carried by 63 outlets; harsh wording in 80 in 100Bristol, UK -- accidents & disasters: 21 stories, carried by 97 outlets; harsh wording in 76 in 100Gaza, Palestine -- attacks & violence: 59 stories, carried by 87 outlets; harsh wording in 97 in 100Sydney, Australia -- accidents & disasters: 30 stories, carried by 98 outlets; harsh wording in 87 in 100Colombo, Sri Lanka -- protests & strikes: 39 stories, carried by 101 outlets; harsh wording in 87 in 100Munich, Germany -- disease & outbreaks: 31 stories, carried by 213 outlets; harsh wording in 65 in 100Jakarta, Indonesia -- attacks & violence: 26 stories, carried by 98 outlets; harsh wording in 81 in 100Moscow, Russia -- attacks & violence: 57 stories, carried by 134 outlets; harsh wording in 98 in 100West Palm Beach, US -- attacks & violence: 37 stories, carried by 87 outlets; harsh wording in 95 in 100Toropets, Russia -- people displaced: 16 stories, carried by 158 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Tel Aviv, Israel -- attacks & violence: 73 stories, carried by 110 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Jerusalem, Israel -- attacks & violence: 34 stories, carried by 171 outlets; harsh wording in 97 in 100Cheltenham, UK -- accidents & disasters: 11 stories, carried by 150 outlets; harsh wording in 91 in 100Baltimore, US -- accidents & disasters: 19 stories, carried by 142 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Wajima, Japan -- accidents & disasters: 54 stories, carried by 245 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Beirut, Lebanon -- attacks & violence: 223 stories, carried by 401 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 harsher than usual. Filled dot: today. Ring: usual.

● Angera little more than 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.