← 15 Jan Saturday 16 January 2016 · to 23:59 UTC 17 Jan →
What the world's news said happened to people.
Counts of coverage, not of suffering
32,388 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 Copenhagen (Denmark), violence in Ouagadougou and rights and justice in Tehran. Burkina Faso's coverage was about twice as angry as the world's. Everywhere we counted, the words were about as usual.

Reports of abductions ran at about 4 times the usual rate, most often about Burkina Faso and the US → Help and hope: reports of people freed or reunited ran at about 4 times the usual rate →
Part of lifeConflict & violence 31 in 100 of the stories about harm · about as usual Country that rose mostBurkina Faso 97 in 100 of its 2,714 stories, usually 59
RegionSub-Saharan Africa 56 in 100 of its stories, usually 32
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

Denmark

164 of its 241 stories (68%) were about people being harmed, usually 28%. Copenhagen accounted for 130 of Denmark's 164 stories about harm, carried by 117 outlets. 118 of Copenhagen's 130 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of refugees ran at about 4 times the usual rate (147 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as warm as the world's.

Conflict & violence

Burkina Faso

2,625 of its 2,714 stories (97%) were about people being harmed, usually 59%. Ouagadougou accounted for 2,467 of Burkina Faso's 2,625 stories about harm, carried by 1,483 outlets. Reports of abductions ran at more than ten times the usual rate (907 stories). Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's.

Rights & justice

Iran

1,829 of its 3,416 stories (54%) were about people being harmed, usually 37%. Tehran accounted for 1,507 of Iran's 1,829 stories about harm, carried by 1,085 outlets. Reports of arrests ran at about three times the usual rate (1,639 stories). Landslides were named in 86 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual, with tuberculosis.

6 more places the news pointed at
Conflict & violence

Mali

130 of its 146 stories (89%) were about people being harmed, usually 66%. Bamako accounted for 87 of Mali's 130 stories about harm, carried by 110 outlets. Reports of people injured ran at about twice the usual rate (30 stories). Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's. Grief in its coverage rose to about one and a half times its own usual.

Health

Haiti

47 of its 65 stories (72%) were about people being harmed, usually 25%. Reports of refugees ran at about 8 times the usual rate (5 stories). Chikungunya was named in 10 of its stories about harm, about 9 times usual, with dengue.

Conflict & violence

Sudan

77 of its 99 stories (78%) were about people being harmed, usually 43%. Reports of people injured ran at more than ten times the usual rate (61 stories). Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's.

Conflict & violence

Malaysia

305 of its 683 stories (45%) were about people being harmed, usually 21%. Reports of arrests ran at about 6 times the usual rate (192 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as fearful as the world's. Anger in its coverage rose to about twice its own usual.

Protests & strikes

Czechia

58 of its 115 stories (50%) were about people being harmed, usually 19%. 57 of Prague's 58 stories were about protests or strikes. Anger in its coverage rose to about one and a half times its own usual.

Health

Sierra Leone

175 of its 206 stories (85%) were about people being harmed, usually 61%. Extreme cold was named in 11 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual. Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's.

Also named far more than usual: road crashes in Jordan (36 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); plane crash in Taiwan (28 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); hunger in North Korea (32 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); bird flu in Bangladesh (21 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); natural hazards in Portugal (10 of its stories, about 4 times its usual).

23 in 100 stories were about harm

usually 21; 20 the day before
25 in 10019 in 1001 Jan4 Jan8 Jan12 Jan16 Jan1 Jan: 24 in 1002 Jan: 25 in 1003 Jan: 25 in 1004 Jan: 21 in 1005 Jan: 21 in 1006 Jan: 20 in 1007 Jan: 20 in 1008 Jan: 21 in 1009 Jan: 23 in 10010 Jan: 22 in 10011 Jan: 19 in 10012 Jan: 19 in 10013 Jan: 20 in 10014 Jan: 20 in 10015 Jan: 20 in 10016 Jan: 23 in 100 · this day

Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 16 Jan. 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 32,388 stories about harm among 142,268 counted on 16 Jan.

Read the day's briefing

On the side of help, reports of people freed or reunited ran at about 4 times the usual rate. Stories about people being harmed made up 23 in every 100 of the day's 142,268 stories, above the usual 21. Abductions were reported at about 4 times the usual rate, most often about Burkina Faso and the US. In Jordan's news, mentions of road crashes ran more than ten times their usual. Denmark stood out: 68% of its news was about people being harmed, usually 28%.

Written by code from the day's numbers.

Where it happened

feelings in full →
Feelings Events Harm Warmth
Sanaa, Yemen -- attacks & violence: 63 stories, carried by 64 outlets; harsh wording in 92 in 100Georgetown, Guyana -- deaths, cause not given: 52 stories, carried by 65 outlets; harsh wording in 96 in 100Pyongyang, North Korea -- attacks & violence: 152 stories, carried by 115 outlets; harsh wording in 62 in 100Mogadishu, Somalia -- attacks & violence: 90 stories, carried by 72 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Pathankot, India -- attacks & violence: 169 stories, carried by 85 outlets; harsh wording in 94 in 100Prague, Czechia -- protests & strikes: 58 stories, carried by 77 outlets; harsh wording in 97 in 100Phuket, Thailand -- protests & strikes: 14 stories, carried by 132 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Warrnambool, Australia -- attacks & violence: 47 stories, carried by 87 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Bamako, Mali -- attacks & violence: 87 stories, carried by 110 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Baraboule, Burkina Faso -- attacks & violence: 31 stories, carried by 147 outlets; harsh wording in 81 in 100Seoul, South Korea -- attacks & violence: 83 stories, carried by 113 outlets; harsh wording in 90 in 100Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia -- attacks & violence: 218 stories, carried by 149 outlets; harsh wording in 99 in 100Istanbul, Türkiye -- attacks & violence: 205 stories, carried by 130 outlets; harsh wording in 98 in 100Kathmandu, Nepal -- accidents & disasters: 126 stories, carried by 126 outlets; harsh wording in 98 in 100Copenhagen, Denmark -- protests & strikes: 130 stories, carried by 117 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Chios, Greece -- attacks & violence: 78 stories, carried by 136 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100The Shaw, Australia -- protests & strikes: 30 stories, carried by 129 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Ramadi, Iraq -- attacks & violence: 99 stories, carried by 145 outlets; harsh wording in 99 in 100Madaya, Syria -- attacks & violence: 363 stories, carried by 352 outlets; harsh wording in 99 in 100Baghdad, Iraq -- attacks & violence: 144 stories, carried by 315 outlets; harsh wording in 90 in 100Honolulu, US -- accidents & disasters: 339 stories, carried by 403 outlets; harsh wording in 95 in 100Harney County, US -- protests & strikes: 327 stories, carried by 406 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Jakarta, Indonesia -- attacks & violence: 719 stories, carried by 615 outlets; harsh wording in 99 in 100Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso -- attacks & violence: 2,467 stories, carried by 1,483 outlets; harsh wording in 100 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 →

● 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?

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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.