← 31 Dec Sunday 1 January 2017 · to 23:59 UTC 2 Jan →
What the world's news said happened to people.
Counts of coverage, not of suffering
28,236 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 →

Protests in Manama (Bahrain), people displaced in Manus Island and violence in Bujumbura drew the news. Burundi's coverage was about three times as grief-stricken as the world's. Across the world, the tone of the words was much harsher than usual.

Reports of people injured ran at about twice the usual rate, most often about Türkiye and the US →
Part of lifeConflict & violence 33 in 100 of the stories about harm · much more than usual Country that rose mostBrazil 59 in 100 of its 600 stories, usually 15
RegionCentral Asia 33 in 100 of its stories, usually 22
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

Bahrain

216 of its 267 stories (81%) were about people being harmed, usually 37%. Manama accounted for 115 of Bahrain's 216 stories about harm, carried by 95 outlets. 87 of Manama's 115 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of arrests ran at about three times the usual rate (52 stories). Its coverage was about three times as fearful as the world's. Grief in its coverage rose to about 5 times its own usual.

Conflict & violence

Burundi

200 of its 280 stories (71%) were about people being harmed, usually 61%. Bujumbura accounted for 185 of Burundi's 200 stories about harm, carried by 171 outlets. Reports of arrests ran at about 5 times the usual rate (71 stories). Its coverage was about three times as grief-stricken as the world's.

6 more places the news pointed at
Protests & strikes

China

662 of its 2,502 stories (26%) were about people being harmed, usually 14%. 349 of Shanghai's 360 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of people injured ran at more than ten times the usual rate (366 stories). Storms were named in 336 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual, with tornadoes.

Conflict & violence

Türkiye

Istanbul accounted for 3,154 of Türkiye's 3,292 stories about harm, carried by 1,493 outlets. Reports of people injured ran at about three times the usual rate (2,270 stories). Plague was named in 139 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual, with extreme cold. Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's.

Conflict & violence

Brazil

356 of its 600 stories (59%) were about people being harmed, usually 15%. Reports of people injured ran at more than ten times the usual rate (117 stories). Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's. Anger in its coverage rose to about twice its own usual.

Conflict & violence

Israel

560 of its 1,233 stories (45%) were about people being harmed, usually 28%. Reports of people killed ran at about 5 times the usual rate (371 stories). Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's.

Conflict & violence

Iraq

720 of its 832 stories (87%) were about people being harmed, usually 72%. Reports of people injured ran at about twice the usual rate (297 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as angry as the world's.

Disasters & accidents

Bolivia

18 of its 42 stories (43%) were about people being harmed, usually 14%. Reports of people affected ran at about 8 times the usual rate (17 stories). Drought was named in 17 of its stories about harm, about 5 times usual.

Also named far more than usual: storms in China (336 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); hunger in Venezuela (71 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); drought in Bolivia (17 of its stories, about 5 times its usual); drought in Zimbabwe (18 of its stories, about 4 times its usual); train derailment in Belgium (10 of its stories, more than ten times its usual).

24 in 100 stories were about harm

usually 22; 23 the day before
25 in 10020 in 1003 Dec10 Dec17 Dec24 Dec1 Jan3 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 1001 Jan: 24 in 100 · this day

Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 1 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 28,236 stories about harm among 119,091 counted on 1 Jan.

Read the day's briefing

In China's news, mentions of storms ran more than ten times their usual. Stories about people being harmed made up 24 in every 100 of the day's 119,091 stories, above the usual 22. Reports of people injured ran at about twice the usual rate, most often about Türkiye and the US. In Bahrain, 81% of the news was about people being harmed, where 37% is usual. A year earlier, on 2 January 2016, 25 in every 100 stories were about people being harmed, against 24 today. Over December, 22 in every 100 stories were about people being harmed.

Written by code from the day's numbers.

Where it happened

feelings in full →
Feelings Events Harm Warmth
Munich, Germany -- deaths, cause not given: 52 stories, carried by 57 outlets; harsh wording in 98 in 100Peterborough, UK -- accidents & disasters: 27 stories, carried by 141 outlets; harsh wording in 85 in 100Dhaka, Bangladesh -- attacks & violence: 100 stories, carried by 88 outlets; harsh wording in 95 in 100Prague, Czechia -- attacks & violence: 79 stories, carried by 74 outlets; harsh wording in 99 in 100Manama, Bahrain -- protests & strikes: 115 stories, carried by 95 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Maiduguri, Nigeria -- attacks & violence: 107 stories, carried by 85 outlets; harsh wording in 99 in 100Puerto Cabello, Venezuela -- protests & strikes: 72 stories, carried by 77 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Melilla, Spain -- accidents & disasters: 139 stories, carried by 136 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Mosul, Iraq -- attacks & violence: 92 stories, carried by 86 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Dover, UK -- accidents & disasters: 38 stories, carried by 151 outlets; harsh wording in 87 in 100Bendigo, Australia -- accidents & disasters: 18 stories, carried by 129 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Gippsland, Australia -- accidents & disasters: 17 stories, carried by 132 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Bujumbura, Burundi -- attacks & violence: 185 stories, carried by 171 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Seoul, South Korea -- protests & strikes: 226 stories, carried by 212 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Campinas, Brazil -- attacks & violence: 178 stories, carried by 161 outlets; harsh wording in 98 in 100Berlin, Germany -- attacks & violence: 310 stories, carried by 291 outlets; harsh wording in 98 in 100California, US -- attacks & violence: 301 stories, carried by 394 outlets; harsh wording in 56 in 100South Carolina, US -- attacks & violence: 177 stories, carried by 266 outlets; harsh wording in 82 in 100Aleppo, Syria -- attacks & violence: 228 stories, carried by 253 outlets; harsh wording in 93 in 100Damascus, Syria -- attacks & violence: 344 stories, carried by 295 outlets; harsh wording in 88 in 100Baghdad, Iraq -- attacks & violence: 301 stories, carried by 262 outlets; harsh wording in 99 in 100Shanghai, China -- protests & strikes: 360 stories, carried by 274 outlets; harsh wording in 99 in 100Jakarta, Indonesia -- accidents & disasters: 622 stories, carried by 550 outlets; harsh wording in 99 in 100Istanbul, Türkiye -- attacks & violence: 3,154 stories, carried by 1,493 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 much harsher than usual. Filled dot: today. Ring: usual.

● Angerabout one and a half times usual
● Warmthabout as usual
● Griefabout one and a half times usual
● Feara little more 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

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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.