← 3 Dec Monday 4 December 2017 · to 23:59 UTC 5 Dec →
What the world's news said happened to people.
Counts of coverage, not of suffering
34,425 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 violence in Valletta, protests in Tegucigalpa (Honduras) and people displaced in Balaka. Malta's coverage was about three times as grief-stricken as the world's. Worldwide, the words used were much softer than usual.

Help and hope: reports of vaccination ran at about twice the usual rate →
Part of lifeRights & justice 28 in 100 of the stories about harm · about as usual Country that rose mostMalta 82 in 100 of its 491 stories, usually 17
RegionEvery region about as usual
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 →
Conflict & violence

Malta

403 of its 491 stories (82%) were about people being harmed, usually 17%. Valletta accounted for 276 of Malta's 403 stories about harm, carried by 264 outlets. Reports of arrests ran at more than ten times the usual rate (396 stories). Its coverage was about three times as grief-stricken as the world's.

Protests & strikes

Honduras

229 of its 435 stories (53%) were about people being harmed, usually 34%. Tegucigalpa accounted for 190 of Honduras' 229 stories about harm, carried by 162 outlets. 188 of Tegucigalpa's 190 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of people killed ran at about 4 times the usual rate (184 stories).

Health

Philippines

803 of its 1,819 stories (44%) were about people being harmed, usually 31%. Reports of people falling ill ran at more than ten times the usual rate (94 stories). Malaria was named in 88 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual, with haemorrhagic fever, measles and respiratory illness. Its coverage was about one and a half times as fearful as the world's.

6 more places the news pointed at
Conflict & violence

Palestine

297 of its 456 stories (65%) were about people being harmed, usually 37%. Nablus accounted for 231 of Palestine's 297 stories about harm, carried by 17 outlets. Flooding was named in 70 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual.

Conflict & violence

Jordan

126 of its 291 stories (43%) were about people being harmed, usually 19%. Reports of people killed ran at about 4 times the usual rate (76 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as warm as the world's. Grief in its coverage rose to about twice its own usual.

Rights & justice

Spain

538 of its 1,243 stories (43%) were about people being harmed, usually 28%. Madrid accounted for 460 of Spain's 538 stories about harm, carried by 421 outlets. Reports of arrests ran at about twice the usual rate (438 stories).

Conflict & violence

Congo

70 of its 94 stories (74%) were about people being harmed, usually 54%. Reports of arrests ran at about 4 times the usual rate (36 stories). Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's.

Protests & strikes

North Macedonia

30 of its 44 stories (68%) were about people being harmed, usually 45%. 22 of Skopje's 27 stories were about protests or strikes. Its coverage was about one and a half times as angry as the world's.

Conflict & violence

Pakistan

795 of its 1,524 stories (52%) were about people being harmed, usually 42%. Reports of abductions ran at about three times the usual rate (41 stories). Its coverage was about twice as fearful as the world's. Warmth in its coverage rose to about one and a half times its own usual.

Also named far more than usual: drownings in Iraq (79 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); flooding in Palestine (70 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); plane crash in Colombia (16 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); cyclone in India (311 of its stories, about 5 times its usual); drought in Uganda (19 of its stories, about three times its usual).

19 in 100 stories were about harm

usually 21; 20 the day before
25 in 10019 in 1005 Nov12 Nov19 Nov26 Nov4 Dec5 Nov: 25 in 1006 Nov: 24 in 1007 Nov: 22 in 1008 Nov: 19 in 1009 Nov: 20 in 10010 Nov: 19 in 10011 Nov: 20 in 10012 Nov: 22 in 10013 Nov: 21 in 10014 Nov: 20 in 10015 Nov: 20 in 10016 Nov: 19 in 10017 Nov: 19 in 10018 Nov: 21 in 10019 Nov: 21 in 10020 Nov: 19 in 10021 Nov: 20 in 10022 Nov: 20 in 10023 Nov: 20 in 10024 Nov: 21 in 10025 Nov: 24 in 10026 Nov: 23 in 10027 Nov: 20 in 10028 Nov: 20 in 10029 Nov: 19 in 10030 Nov: 19 in 1001 Dec: 20 in 1002 Dec: 21 in 1003 Dec: 20 in 1004 Dec: 19 in 100 · this day

Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 4 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 34,425 stories about harm among 184,618 counted on 4 Dec.

Read the day's briefing

The share of stories about people being harmed was the lowest since 10 November 2016. 19 in every 100 of the day's 184,618 news stories were about people being harmed, below the usual 21. In Malta, 82% of the news was about people being harmed, where 17% is usual. Reports of vaccination, a sign of help, ran at about twice the usual rate. Mentions of drownings ran more than ten times their usual in Iraq's news.

Written by code from the day's numbers.

Where it happened

feelings in full →
Feelings Events Harm Warmth
Tehran, Iran -- protests & strikes: 69 stories, carried by 64 outlets; harsh wording in 96 in 100Buenos Aires, Argentina -- accidents & disasters: 50 stories, carried by 48 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Jerusalem, Israel -- attacks & violence: 233 stories, carried by 98 outlets; harsh wording in 94 in 100Marib, Yemen -- attacks & violence: 7 stories, carried by 56 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Athens, Greece -- attacks & violence: 70 stories, carried by 62 outlets; harsh wording in 97 in 100Riyadh, Saudi Arabia -- attacks & violence: 78 stories, carried by 65 outlets; harsh wording in 96 in 100Pyongyang, North Korea -- attacks & violence: 80 stories, carried by 62 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Beijing, China -- protests & strikes: 141 stories, carried by 129 outlets; harsh wording in 86 in 100Madison Square, US -- accidents & disasters: 52 stories, carried by 65 outlets; harsh wording in 94 in 100Great Lakes, Canada -- accidents & disasters: 29 stories, carried by 84 outlets; harsh wording in 93 in 100Berlin, Germany -- people displaced: 232 stories, carried by 164 outlets; harsh wording in 97 in 100Amman, Jordan -- attacks & violence: 88 stories, carried by 76 outlets; harsh wording in 93 in 100Des Moines, US -- deaths, cause not given: 93 stories, carried by 91 outlets; harsh wording in 98 in 100Tokyo, Japan -- accidents & disasters: 173 stories, carried by 144 outlets; harsh wording in 73 in 100Karangasem, Indonesia -- accidents & disasters: 93 stories, carried by 86 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Philippine, Philippines -- disease & outbreaks: 275 stories, carried by 149 outlets; harsh wording in 90 in 100Ghouta, Syria -- attacks & violence: 163 stories, carried by 127 outlets; harsh wording in 97 in 100Seoul, South Korea -- accidents & disasters: 143 stories, carried by 182 outlets; harsh wording in 98 in 100Bali, Indonesia -- accidents & disasters: 52 stories, carried by 117 outlets; harsh wording in 94 in 100Doha, Qatar -- attacks & violence: 150 stories, carried by 131 outlets; harsh wording in 98 in 100Tegucigalpa, Honduras -- protests & strikes: 190 stories, carried by 162 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Valletta, Malta -- attacks & violence: 276 stories, carried by 264 outlets; harsh wording in 97 in 100Islamabad, Pakistan -- attacks & violence: 542 stories, carried by 381 outlets; harsh wording in 96 in 100Sanaa, Yemen -- attacks & violence: 896 stories, carried by 672 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 much softer than usual. Filled dot: today. Ring: usual.

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

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.