← 30 Dec Saturday 31 December 2016 · to 23:59 UTC 1 Jan →
What the world's news said happened to people.
Counts of coverage, not of suffering
30,812 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 →

Most of the day's attention went to protests in Pyongyang (North Korea), violence in Baghdad and arrests in Brazil. Brazil's coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's. Everywhere we counted, the words were harsher than usual.

Help and hope: reports of peace efforts ran at about one and a half times the usual rate →
Part of lifeRights & justice 27 in 100 of the stories about harm · about as usual Country that rose mostNorth Korea 79 in 100 of its 200 stories, usually 25
RegionEast Asia 25 in 100 of its stories, usually 14
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 →
Protests & strikes

North Korea

158 of its 200 stories (79%) were about people being harmed, usually 25%. Pyongyang accounted for 156 of North Korea's 158 stories about harm, carried by 189 outlets. 149 of Pyongyang's 156 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of people killed ran at about 10 times the usual rate (152 stories). Cholera was named in 146 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual, with outbreaks. Its coverage was about one and a half times as warm as the world's.

Conflict & violence

Iraq

1,457 of its 1,630 stories (89%) were about people being harmed, usually 71%. Baghdad accounted for 739 of Iraq's 1,457 stories about harm, carried by 783 outlets. Reports of arrests ran at about 7 times the usual rate (236 stories). Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's. Grief in its coverage rose to about twice its own usual.

Rights & justice

Brazil

349 of its 926 stories (38%) were about people being harmed, usually 14%. Reports of arrests ran at more than ten times the usual rate (259 stories). Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's. Anger in its coverage rose to about twice its own usual.

Disasters & accidents

Ireland

472 of its 1,147 stories (41%) were about people being harmed, usually 21%. Reports of people killed ran at about 4 times the usual rate (330 stories). Road crashes were named in 276 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual, with flu and bird flu.

6 more places the news pointed at
Protests & strikes

Venezuela

215 of its 311 stories (69%) were about people being harmed, usually 41%. Caracas accounted for 157 of Venezuela's 215 stories about harm, carried by 136 outlets. 141 of Caracas' 157 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of arrests ran at about three times the usual rate (163 stories).

Protests & strikes

South Korea

500 of its 1,242 stories (40%) were about people being harmed, usually 19%. 178 of Seoul's 206 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of arrests ran at about 7 times the usual rate (77 stories). Grief in its coverage rose to about twice its own usual.

Conflict & violence

Iran

120 of its 357 stories (34%) were about people being harmed, usually 23%. Reports of people killed ran at about twice the usual rate (62 stories). Drownings were named in 13 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual. Its coverage was about twice as fearful as the world's.

Protests & strikes

Egypt

273 of its 482 stories (57%) were about people being harmed, usually 50%. Cairo accounted for 202 of Egypt's 273 stories about harm, carried by 178 outlets. 111 of Cairo's 202 stories were about protests or strikes. Its coverage was about one and a half times as angry as the world's.

Protests & strikes

China

613 of its 3,199 stories (19%) were about people being harmed, usually 14%. 283 of Shanghai's 296 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of people injured ran at about 5 times the usual rate (129 stories). Tornadoes were named in 60 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual.

Rights & justice

Greece

77 of its 222 stories (35%) were about people being harmed, usually 23%. Reports of people killed ran at about three times the usual rate (23 stories). Grief in its coverage rose to about twice its own usual.

Also named far more than usual: volcanic eruption in Costa Rica (13 of its stories, about 5 times its usual); tropical storm in Bahamas (13 of its stories, about 4 times its usual); tornadoes in China (60 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); drownings in Iran (13 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); avalanche in Canada (40 of its stories, about 6 times its usual).

23 in 100 stories were about harm

usually 22; 21 the day before
25 in 10020 in 1002 Dec9 Dec16 Dec23 Dec31 Dec2 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 10018 Dec: 25 in 10019 Dec: 21 in 10020 Dec: 23 in 10021 Dec: 22 in 10022 Dec: 21 in 10023 Dec: 22 in 10024 Dec: 23 in 10025 Dec: 22 in 10026 Dec: 22 in 10027 Dec: 23 in 10028 Dec: 23 in 10029 Dec: 22 in 10030 Dec: 21 in 10031 Dec: 23 in 100 · this day

Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 31 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 30,812 stories about harm among 133,366 counted on 31 Dec.

Read the day's briefing

North Korea's news was 79% about people being harmed, against a usual 25%. of the day's 133,366 news stories, 23 in every 100 were about people being harmed, above the usual 22. North Korea's news mentioned the cholera more than ten times as often as usual. Help and hope: reports of peace efforts ran at about one and a half times the usual rate. On 1 January 2016, a year earlier, the share was 24 in every 100, against 23 today.

Written by code from the day's numbers.

Where it happened

feelings in full →
Feelings Events Harm Warmth
Prague, Czechia -- attacks & violence: 60 stories, carried by 48 outlets; harsh wording in 97 in 100El-Arish, Egypt -- attacks & violence: 41 stories, carried by 42 outlets; harsh wording in 98 in 100Delhi, India -- attacks & violence: 275 stories, carried by 128 outlets; harsh wording in 92 in 100Jerusalem, Israel -- attacks & violence: 311 stories, carried by 104 outlets; harsh wording in 98 in 100Samarra, Iraq -- attacks & violence: 61 stories, carried by 51 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Sanaa, Yemen -- attacks & violence: 14 stories, carried by 79 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Hamburg, Germany -- deaths, cause not given: 103 stories, carried by 256 outlets; harsh wording in 25 in 100Long Bay, Australia -- protests & strikes: 9 stories, carried by 61 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Paris, France -- attacks & violence: 59 stories, carried by 180 outlets; harsh wording in 90 in 100Havant, UK -- protests & strikes: 11 stories, carried by 126 outlets; harsh wording in 91 in 100Cairo, Egypt -- protests & strikes: 202 stories, carried by 178 outlets; harsh wording in 99 in 100Maiduguri, Nigeria -- attacks & violence: 148 stories, carried by 119 outlets; harsh wording in 98 in 100Dallas, US -- accidents & disasters: 169 stories, carried by 224 outlets; harsh wording in 95 in 100Caracas, Venezuela -- protests & strikes: 157 stories, carried by 136 outlets; harsh wording in 94 in 100Moscow, Russia -- attacks & violence: 252 stories, carried by 211 outlets; harsh wording in 97 in 100Seoul, South Korea -- protests & strikes: 206 stories, carried by 166 outlets; harsh wording in 99 in 100Aleppo, Syria -- attacks & violence: 233 stories, carried by 174 outlets; harsh wording in 95 in 100Sydney, Australia -- attacks & violence: 541 stories, carried by 512 outlets; harsh wording in 63 in 100Pyongyang, North Korea -- protests & strikes: 156 stories, carried by 189 outlets; harsh wording in 99 in 100Connecticut, US -- deaths, cause not given: 175 stories, carried by 326 outlets; harsh wording in 99 in 100Shanghai, China -- protests & strikes: 296 stories, carried by 415 outlets; harsh wording in 48 in 100Berlin, Germany -- attacks & violence: 470 stories, carried by 380 outlets; harsh wording in 98 in 100Damascus, Syria -- protests & strikes: 753 stories, carried by 572 outlets; harsh wording in 94 in 100Baghdad, Iraq -- attacks & violence: 739 stories, carried by 783 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 →

harshwarm

The words in the day's stories were harsher than usual. Filled dot: today. Ring: usual.

● Angerabout as usual
● Warmthabout as usual
● Griefa little more than usual
● Feara little less than 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

The week in human impact

Read the week →

Unlock a year of trends, free. Follow up to 5 countries, with a bell when their news changes, and 👍 vote for Pro — ten years of the archive, any period, daily alerts.

Create a free account

Sign in · a username, an email and a password.

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.