← 16 Dec Saturday 17 December 2016 · to 23:59 UTC 18 Dec →
What the world's news said happened to people.
Counts of coverage, not of suffering
34,896 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 Dinka (South Sudan), heavy rain in Vietnam and violence in Cairo. Vietnam's coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's. Everywhere we counted, the words were much harsher than usual.

Reports of evacuations ran at about twice the usual rate, most often about Syria and the US →
Part of lifeRights & justice 29 in 100 of the stories about harm · about as usual Country that rose mostPapua New Guinea 94 in 100 of its 533 stories, usually 23
RegionCentral Asia 42 in 100 of its stories, usually 20
Tone of the words Much harsher than usual across the world's stories about harm

What the world's news was about today

how these are picked →
Protests & strikes

South Sudan

169 of its 186 stories (91%) were about people being harmed, usually 66%. Dinka accounted for 111 of South Sudan's 169 stories about harm, carried by 114 outlets. 104 of Dinka's 111 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of arrests ran at more than ten times the usual rate (113 stories). Hunger was named in 113 of its stories about harm, about 8 times usual, with malaria.

Disasters & accidents

Vietnam

90 of its 308 stories (29%) were about people being harmed, usually 19%. Reports of people affected ran at about 7 times the usual rate (44 stories). Heavy rain was named in 43 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual. Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's. Anger in its coverage rose to about one and a half times its own usual.

Conflict & violence

Egypt

273 of its 453 stories (60%) were about people being harmed, usually 52%. Cairo accounted for 249 of Egypt's 273 stories about harm, carried by 200 outlets. Reports of people injured ran at about twice the usual rate (144 stories). Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's. Fear in its coverage rose to about one and a half times its own usual.

6 more places the news pointed at
Rights & justice

Netherlands

246 of its 433 stories (57%) were about people being harmed, usually 21%. Amsterdam accounted for 226 of the Netherlands' 246 stories about harm, carried by 354 outlets. Reports of arrests ran at more than ten times the usual rate (179 stories).

Protests & strikes

Venezuela

233 of its 374 stories (62%) were about people being harmed, usually 31%. 112 of Bolivar's 131 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of people injured ran at more than ten times the usual rate (30 stories).

Shelter & services

Romania

51 of its 97 stories (53%) were about people being harmed, usually 17%. Reports of people affected ran at more than ten times the usual rate (42 stories). Fear in its coverage rose to about twice its own usual.

Conflict & violence

Burkina Faso

74 of its 88 stories (84%) were about people being harmed, usually 55%. Reports of people injured ran at about 5 times the usual rate (14 stories). Its coverage was about three times as angry as the world's.

Disasters & accidents

Fiji

70 of its 163 stories (43%) were about people being harmed, usually 23%. Reports of evacuations ran at more than ten times the usual rate (15 stories). Heavy rain was named in 25 of its stories about harm, about three times usual.

Conflict & violence

Palestine

416 of its 717 stories (58%) were about people being harmed, usually 42%. Reports of people injured ran at about 5 times the usual rate (84 stories). Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's.

Also named far more than usual: tsunami in Papua New Guinea (499 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); plane crash in China (199 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); heavy rain in Fiji (25 of its stories, about three times its usual); volcanic eruption in Solomon Islands (13 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); outbreaks in Tanzania (13 of its stories, about 8 times its usual).

23 in 100 stories were about harm

usually 21; 21 the day before
23 in 10020 in 10018 Nov25 Nov2 Dec9 Dec17 Dec18 Nov: 20 in 10019 Nov: 22 in 10020 Nov: 22 in 10021 Nov: 21 in 10022 Nov: 22 in 10023 Nov: 20 in 10024 Nov: 21 in 10025 Nov: 21 in 10026 Nov: 23 in 10027 Nov: 23 in 10028 Nov: 20 in 10029 Nov: 20 in 10030 Nov: 20 in 1001 Dec: 20 in 1002 Dec: 20 in 1003 Dec: 22 in 1004 Dec: 22 in 1005 Dec: 20 in 1006 Dec: 20 in 1007 Dec: 21 in 1008 Dec: 20 in 1009 Dec: 21 in 10010 Dec: 23 in 10011 Dec: 22 in 10012 Dec: 20 in 10013 Dec: 20 in 10014 Dec: 20 in 10015 Dec: 20 in 10016 Dec: 21 in 10017 Dec: 23 in 100 · this day

Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 17 Dec. 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 34,896 stories about harm among 151,292 counted on 17 Dec.

Read the day's briefing

No day had a higher share of stories about people being harmed since 13 November 2016. Reports of evacuations ran at about twice the usual rate, most often about Syria and the US. Mentions of the tsunami ran more than ten times their usual in Papua New Guinea's news. of the day's 151,292 news stories, 23 in every 100 were about people being harmed, above the usual 21.

Written by code from the day's numbers.

Where it happened

feelings in full →
Feelings Events Harm Warmth
Islamabad, Pakistan -- attacks & violence: 181 stories, carried by 79 outlets; harsh wording in 90 in 100Murwillumbah, Australia -- deaths, cause not given: 10 stories, carried by 68 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Johannesburg, South Africa -- attacks & violence: 29 stories, carried by 168 outlets; harsh wording in 90 in 100Tehran, Iran -- attacks & violence: 88 stories, carried by 76 outlets; harsh wording in 94 in 100Kabul, Afghanistan -- attacks & violence: 96 stories, carried by 73 outlets; harsh wording in 99 in 100New Ireland, Papua New Guinea -- accidents & disasters: 62 stories, carried by 73 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Ludwigshafen, Germany -- attacks & violence: 82 stories, carried by 100 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Anbar, Iraq -- attacks & violence: 23 stories, carried by 78 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Jerusalem, Israel -- attacks & violence: 163 stories, carried by 136 outlets; harsh wording in 90 in 100Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea -- accidents & disasters: 83 stories, carried by 82 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Manchester, UK -- protests & strikes: 136 stories, carried by 135 outlets; harsh wording in 94 in 100Bolivar, Venezuela -- protests & strikes: 131 stories, carried by 119 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Dinka, South Sudan -- protests & strikes: 111 stories, carried by 114 outlets; harsh wording in 97 in 100Bamako, Mali -- attacks & violence: 113 stories, carried by 117 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Istanbul, Türkiye -- attacks & violence: 217 stories, carried by 161 outlets; harsh wording in 97 in 100Warsaw, Poland -- protests & strikes: 156 stories, carried by 155 outlets; harsh wording in 99 in 100Cairo, Egypt -- attacks & violence: 249 stories, carried by 200 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Carrboro, US -- protests & strikes: 210 stories, carried by 192 outlets; harsh wording in 98 in 100Kayseri, Türkiye -- attacks & violence: 284 stories, carried by 216 outlets; harsh wording in 98 in 100Tenosique, Mexico -- people displaced: 159 stories, carried by 190 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Seoul, South Korea -- protests & strikes: 189 stories, carried by 246 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Beijing, China -- accidents & disasters: 373 stories, carried by 425 outlets; harsh wording in 97 in 100Baltimore, US -- accidents & disasters: 580 stories, carried by 431 outlets; harsh wording in 99 in 100Aleppo, Syria -- people displaced: 1,858 stories, carried by 1,167 outlets; harsh wording in 98 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 much harsher 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?

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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.