← 30 Jan Tuesday 31 January 2017 · to 23:59 UTC 1 Feb →
What the world's news said happened to people.
Counts of coverage, not of suffering
60,350 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 news turned to violence in Brussels, protests in Bucharest (Romania) and people killed in Greece. Belgium's coverage was about three times as fearful as the world's. Taken together, the world's news read about as usual.

Reports of refugees ran at about three times the usual rate, most often about the US and Syria →
Part of lifeRights & justice 34 in 100 of the stories about harm · more than usual Country that rose mostUkraine 74 in 100 of its 842 stories, usually 36
RegionSoutheast Asia 29 in 100 of its stories, usually 24
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 →
Conflict & violence

Belgium

159 of its 456 stories (35%) were about people being harmed, usually 25%. Brussels accounted for 136 of Belgium's 159 stories about harm, carried by 114 outlets. Reports of refugees ran at about 4 times the usual rate (8 stories). Respiratory illness was named in 18 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual. Its coverage was about three times as fearful as the world's.

Protests & strikes

Romania

188 of its 378 stories (50%) were about people being harmed, usually 31%. Bucharest accounted for 171 of Romania's 188 stories about harm, carried by 123 outlets. 165 of Bucharest's 171 stories were about protests or strikes. Its coverage was about one and a half times as angry as the world's.

Food & livelihood

Greece

284 of its 741 stories (38%) were about people being harmed, usually 29%. Reports of people killed ran at about twice the usual rate (94 stories). Poisoning was named in 50 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual.

Displacement

New Zealand

411 of its 1,594 stories (26%) were about people being harmed, usually 19%. Reports of refugees ran at about 6 times the usual rate (26 stories). Heatwave was named in 15 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual.

6 more places the news pointed at
Conflict & violence

Ukraine

621 of its 842 stories (74%) were about people being harmed, usually 36%. Kiev accounted for 245 of Ukraine's 621 stories about harm, carried by 190 outlets. Reports of evacuations ran at more than ten times the usual rate (143 stories). Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's.

Conflict & violence

Canada

3,288 of its 8,223 stories (40%) were about people being harmed, usually 21%. Quebec accounted for 2,219 of Canada's 3,288 stories about harm, carried by 1,484 outlets. Reports of people injured ran at about 6 times the usual rate (1,382 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as angry as the world's.

Conflict & violence

Pakistan

934 of its 2,044 stories (46%) were about people being harmed, usually 36%. Reports of people displaced ran at about 4 times the usual rate (17 stories). Road crashes were named in 17 of its stories about harm, about 4 times usual. Its coverage was about twice as fearful as the world's.

Protests & strikes

Vietnam

70 of its 300 stories (23%) were about people being harmed, usually 16%. 13 of Ha Tinh's 13 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of refugees ran at more than ten times the usual rate (16 stories). Accidents were named in 13 of its stories about harm, about 5 times usual.

Protests & strikes

Yemen

515 of its 607 stories (85%) were about people being harmed, usually 79%. 81 of Sanaa's 153 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of evacuations ran at about 4 times the usual rate (14 stories). Its coverage was about three times as grief-stricken as the world's.

Conflict & violence

Russia

902 of its 2,918 stories (31%) were about people being harmed, usually 17%. Reports of evacuations ran at more than ten times the usual rate (132 stories). Outbreaks were named in 35 of its stories about harm, about 7 times usual.

Also named far more than usual: tsunami in Indonesia (185 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); train derailment in Palestine (42 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); train derailment in Italy (67 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); volcanic eruption in Mauritius (12 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); outbreaks in Cambodia (18 of its stories, more than ten times its usual).

21 in 100 stories were about harm

usually 21; 24 the day before
28 in 10019 in 1002 Jan9 Jan16 Jan23 Jan31 Jan2 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 10022 Jan: 23 in 10023 Jan: 21 in 10024 Jan: 19 in 10025 Jan: 20 in 10026 Jan: 20 in 10027 Jan: 19 in 10028 Jan: 24 in 10029 Jan: 28 in 10030 Jan: 24 in 10031 Jan: 21 in 100 · this day

Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 31 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 60,350 stories about harm among 287,604 counted on 31 Jan.

Read the day's briefing

Reports of refugees ran at about three times the usual rate, most often about the US and Syria. Stories about people being harmed made up 21 in every 100 of the day's 287,604 stories, as usual. Mentions of the tsunami ran more than ten times their usual in Indonesia's news. In Belgium, 35% of the news was about people being harmed, where 25% is usual. A year earlier, on 1 February 2016, 20 in every 100 stories were about people being harmed, against 21 today.

Written by code from the day's numbers.

Where it happened

feelings in full →
Feelings Events Harm Warmth
Madrid, Spain -- protests & strikes: 75 stories, carried by 64 outlets; harsh wording in 97 in 100Milan, Italy -- accidents & disasters: 77 stories, carried by 61 outlets; harsh wording in 95 in 100Melbourne, Australia -- deaths, cause not given: 272 stories, carried by 243 outlets; harsh wording in 94 in 100Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia -- accidents & disasters: 117 stories, carried by 68 outlets; harsh wording in 95 in 100Middle Belt, Nigeria -- attacks & violence: 65 stories, carried by 63 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Lesbos, Greece -- people displaced: 81 stories, carried by 79 outlets; harsh wording in 99 in 100Ankara, Türkiye -- attacks & violence: 125 stories, carried by 111 outlets; harsh wording in 97 in 100Baghdad, Iraq -- attacks & violence: 90 stories, carried by 82 outlets; harsh wording in 98 in 100Buenos Aires, Argentina -- protests & strikes: 79 stories, carried by 77 outlets; harsh wording in 99 in 100Damascus, Syria -- people displaced: 188 stories, carried by 169 outlets; harsh wording in 81 in 100Khorasan, Iran -- people displaced: 294 stories, carried by 145 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Sanaa, Yemen -- protests & strikes: 153 stories, carried by 140 outlets; harsh wording in 99 in 100Brussels, Belgium -- attacks & violence: 136 stories, carried by 114 outlets; harsh wording in 96 in 100Islamabad, Pakistan -- attacks & violence: 275 stories, carried by 163 outlets; harsh wording in 94 in 100Jerusalem, Israel -- attacks & violence: 512 stories, carried by 270 outlets; harsh wording in 89 in 100Yangon, Myanmar -- attacks & violence: 96 stories, carried by 186 outlets; harsh wording in 99 in 100Warrigal, Australia -- accidents & disasters: 8 stories, carried by 127 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Maiduguri, Nigeria -- attacks & violence: 182 stories, carried by 135 outlets; harsh wording in 98 in 100Bucharest, Romania -- protests & strikes: 171 stories, carried by 123 outlets; harsh wording in 99 in 100Allentown, US -- protests & strikes: 160 stories, carried by 154 outlets; harsh wording in 99 in 100Jakarta, Indonesia -- accidents & disasters: 237 stories, carried by 174 outlets; harsh wording in 99 in 100Maries County, US -- accidents & disasters: 134 stories, carried by 165 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Kiev, Ukraine -- attacks & violence: 245 stories, carried by 190 outlets; harsh wording in 99 in 100Quebec, Canada -- attacks & violence: 2,219 stories, carried by 1,484 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 about as usual. Filled dot: today. Ring: usual.

● Angerabout as usual
● Warmthabout as usual
● Griefa little less than 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.