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What the world's news said happened to people.
Counts of coverage, not of suffering
37,833 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 Banjul (Gambia), the hypothermia in Romania and violence in Vienna drew the news. Austria's coverage was about three times as fearful as the world's. Everywhere we counted, the words were much softer than usual.

Help and hope: reports of peace efforts ran at about one and a half times the usual rate →
Part of lifeRights & justice 41 in 100 of the stories about harm · much more than usual Country that rose mostRomania 85 in 100 of its 423 stories, usually 20
RegionSouth Asia 29 in 100 of its stories, usually 23
Tone of the words Much softer than usual across the world's stories about harm

What the world's news was about today

how these are picked →
Protests & strikes

Gambia

1,090 of its 2,168 stories (50%) were about people being harmed, usually 33%. Banjul accounted for 926 of the Gambia's 1,090 stories about harm, carried by 476 outlets. 700 of Banjul's 926 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of abductions ran at about twice the usual rate (6 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as warm as the world's.

Disasters & accidents

Romania

361 of its 423 stories (85%) were about people being harmed, usually 20%. Bucharest accounted for 353 of Romania's 361 stories about harm, carried by 262 outlets. Reports of people injured ran at more than ten times the usual rate (321 stories). Hypothermia was named in 292 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual.

Conflict & violence

Austria

114 of its 193 stories (59%) were about people being harmed, usually 23%. Vienna accounted for 111 of Austria's 114 stories about harm, carried by 82 outlets. Reports of arrests ran at about 8 times the usual rate (66 stories). Its coverage was about three times as fearful as the world's.

Health

Puerto Rico

76 of its 102 stories (75%) were about people being harmed, usually 17%. Reports of people injured ran at about 5 times the usual rate (13 stories). Ebola was named in 56 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual, with outbreaks.

6 more places the news pointed at
Disasters & accidents

Italy

933 of its 1,493 stories (62%) were about people being harmed, usually 33%. Reports of people affected ran at about 4 times the usual rate (649 stories). Snowstorms were named in 315 of its stories about harm, about three times usual, with hypothermia, tsunami and extreme cold. Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's.

Disasters & accidents

Iran

328 of its 537 stories (61%) were about people being harmed, usually 36%. Tehran accounted for 269 of Iran's 328 stories about harm, carried by 203 outlets. Reports of evacuations ran at about 6 times the usual rate (16 stories). Its coverage was about three times as grief-stricken as the world's.

Conflict & violence

Pakistan

1,143 of its 2,057 stories (56%) were about people being harmed, usually 34%. Reports of people injured ran at more than ten times the usual rate (716 stories). Illness was named in 144 of its stories about harm, about 5 times usual. Its coverage was about three times as grief-stricken as the world's.

Conflict & violence

Afghanistan

Kabul accounted for 311 of Afghanistan's 437 stories about harm, carried by 241 outlets. Reports of refugees ran at about 8 times the usual rate (99 stories). Hunger was named in 20 of its stories about harm, about 8 times usual. Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's.

Disasters & accidents

Hungary

494 of its 596 stories (83%) were about people being harmed, usually 26%. Budapest accounted for 477 of Hungary's 494 stories about harm, carried by 513 outlets. Reports of people injured ran at more than ten times the usual rate (329 stories).

Conflict & violence

Saudi Arabia

191 of its 363 stories (53%) were about people being harmed, usually 31%. Reports of people injured ran at about 5 times the usual rate (39 stories). Its coverage was about three times as fearful as the world's.

Also named far more than usual: snowstorms in Italy (315 of its stories, about three times its usual); plane crash in Brazil (49 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); tropical storm in Chile (24 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); heavy rain in New Zealand (38 of its stories, about 9 times its usual); drought in Sri Lanka (19 of its stories, about 7 times its usual).

24 in 100 stories were about harm

usually 22; 20 the day before
24 in 10020 in 10023 Dec30 Dec6 Jan13 Jan21 Jan23 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 1002 Jan: 22 in 1003 Jan: 20 in 1004 Jan: 20 in 1005 Jan: 21 in 1006 Jan: 21 in 1007 Jan: 24 in 1008 Jan: 23 in 1009 Jan: 20 in 10010 Jan: 21 in 10011 Jan: 20 in 10012 Jan: 20 in 10013 Jan: 20 in 10014 Jan: 22 in 10015 Jan: 22 in 10016 Jan: 21 in 10017 Jan: 21 in 10018 Jan: 21 in 10019 Jan: 20 in 10020 Jan: 20 in 10021 Jan: 24 in 100 · this day

Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 21 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 37,833 stories about harm among 158,548 counted on 21 Jan.

Read the day's briefing

Mentions of the hypothermia ran more than ten times their usual in Romania's news. On the side of help, reports of peace efforts ran at about one and a half times the usual rate. A year earlier, on 22 January 2016, 21 in every 100 stories were about people being harmed, against 24 today. 24 in every 100 of the day's 158,548 news stories were about people being harmed, above the usual 22.

Written by code from the day's numbers.

Where it happened

feelings in full →
Feelings Events Harm Warmth
Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil -- protests & strikes: 49 stories, carried by 50 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Maiduguri, Nigeria -- attacks & violence: 85 stories, carried by 92 outlets; harsh wording in 98 in 100Vienna, Austria -- attacks & violence: 111 stories, carried by 82 outlets; harsh wording in 99 in 100Sirte, Libya -- attacks & violence: 95 stories, carried by 81 outlets; harsh wording in 97 in 100Tigris River, Iraq -- attacks & violence: 90 stories, carried by 81 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Tehran, Iran -- accidents & disasters: 269 stories, carried by 203 outlets; harsh wording in 99 in 100Istanbul, Türkiye -- attacks & violence: 194 stories, carried by 165 outlets; harsh wording in 96 in 100Jerusalem, Israel -- attacks & violence: 280 stories, carried by 153 outlets; harsh wording in 94 in 100Paris, France -- attacks & violence: 162 stories, carried by 162 outlets; harsh wording in 93 in 100Palmyra, Syria -- protests & strikes: 133 stories, carried by 146 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Aleppo, Syria -- attacks & violence: 242 stories, carried by 225 outlets; harsh wording in 98 in 100Jeddah, Saudi Arabia -- attacks & violence: 152 stories, carried by 132 outlets; harsh wording in 97 in 100Sydney, Australia -- protests & strikes: 275 stories, carried by 298 outlets; harsh wording in 80 in 100Kabul, Afghanistan -- attacks & violence: 311 stories, carried by 241 outlets; harsh wording in 89 in 100London, UK -- protests & strikes: 365 stories, carried by 387 outlets; harsh wording in 83 in 100Gran Sasso, Italy -- accidents & disasters: 201 stories, carried by 196 outlets; harsh wording in 92 in 100Peshawar, Pakistan -- attacks & violence: 194 stories, carried by 209 outlets; harsh wording in 99 in 100Bucharest, Romania -- accidents & disasters: 353 stories, carried by 262 outlets; harsh wording in 97 in 100Pescara, Italy -- accidents & disasters: 298 stories, carried by 280 outlets; harsh wording in 92 in 100Budapest, Hungary -- accidents & disasters: 477 stories, carried by 513 outlets; harsh wording in 99 in 100Banjul, Gambia -- protests & strikes: 926 stories, carried by 476 outlets; harsh wording in 98 in 100Parachinar, Pakistan -- attacks & violence: 496 stories, carried by 483 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Hattiesburg, US -- accidents & disasters: 808 stories, carried by 819 outlets; harsh wording in 98 in 100Washington, US -- protests & strikes: 5,884 stories, carried by 2,620 outlets; harsh wording in 84 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 softer than usual. Filled dot: today. Ring: usual.

● Angerabout as usual
● Warmthabout as usual
● Griefabout two-thirds of 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.