← 5 Dec Wednesday 6 December 2017 · to 23:59 UTC 7 Dec →
What the world's news said happened to people.
Counts of coverage, not of suffering
42,690 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 violence in Algiers, protests in Kiev (Ukraine) and people killed in Ghana. Ghana's coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's. Language across the world's news ran much softer than usual.

Reports of evacuations ran at about three times the usual rate, most often about the US and Libya →
Part of lifeRights & justice 29 in 100 of the stories about harm · about as usual Country that rose mostCuba 65 in 100 of its 428 stories, usually 21
RegionLatin America & Caribbean 29 in 100 of its stories, usually 26
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

Algeria

160 of its 237 stories (68%) were about people being harmed, usually 26%. Algiers accounted for 158 of Algeria's 160 stories about harm, carried by 143 outlets. Reports of people killed ran at about three times the usual rate (31 stories). Grief in its coverage rose to about twice its own usual.

Protests & strikes

Ukraine

221 of its 456 stories (48%) were about people being harmed, usually 31%. Kiev accounted for 179 of Ukraine's 221 stories about harm, carried by 225 outlets. 160 of Kiev's 179 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of people injured ran at about 6 times the usual rate (128 stories).

Health

Ghana

171 of its 739 stories (23%) were about people being harmed, usually 16%. Reports of people killed ran at about 4 times the usual rate (101 stories). Meningitis was named in 50 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual. Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's.

Rights & justice

Nepal

60 of its 137 stories (44%) were about people being harmed, usually 30%. Hunger was named in 10 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual. Its coverage was about one and a half times as warm as the world's.

6 more places the news pointed at
Conflict & violence

Malta

207 of its 329 stories (63%) were about people being harmed, usually 26%. Valletta accounted for 143 of Malta's 207 stories about harm, carried by 132 outlets. Reports of people killed ran at about 5 times the usual rate (146 stories). Its coverage was about three times as grief-stricken as the world's.

Conflict & violence

UK

2,941 of its 12,730 stories (23%) were about people being harmed, usually 18%. Reports of arrests ran at about three times the usual rate (643 stories). Drownings were named in 39 of its stories about harm, about three times usual, with snowstorms. Its coverage was about twice as fearful as the world's.

Health

Cuba

279 of its 428 stories (65%) were about people being harmed, usually 21%. Havana accounted for 245 of Cuba's 279 stories about harm, carried by 283 outlets. Its coverage was about one and a half times as angry as the world's.

Conflict & violence

El Salvador

36 of its 41 stories (88%) were about people being harmed, usually 45%. Reports of people killed ran at about twice the usual rate (26 stories). Its coverage was about three times as grief-stricken as the world's. Anger in its coverage rose to about one and a half times its own usual.

Protests & strikes

Ethiopia

63 of its 124 stories (51%) were about people being harmed, usually 25%. 22 of Oromo's 22 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of abductions ran at about three times the usual rate (8 stories).

Deaths & injuries, cause not given

Guatemala

24 of its 45 stories (53%) were about people being harmed, usually 36%. Reports of people killed ran at about twice the usual rate (19 stories). Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's.

Also named far more than usual: drought in Somalia (34 of its stories, about 4 times its usual); cyclone in Indonesia (34 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); hiv in Zambia (15 of its stories, about three times its usual); hunger in Venezuela (19 of its stories, about 7 times its usual); train derailment in Germany (48 of its stories, more than ten times its usual).

20 in 100 stories were about harm

usually 20; 20 the day before
24 in 10019 in 1007 Nov14 Nov21 Nov28 Nov6 Dec7 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 1005 Dec: 20 in 1006 Dec: 20 in 100 · this day

Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 6 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 42,690 stories about harm among 218,546 counted on 6 Dec.

Read the day's briefing

Evacuations were reported at about three times the usual rate, most often about the US and Libya. Stories about people being harmed made up 20 in every 100 of the day's 218,546 stories, as usual. Algeria's news was 68% about people being harmed, against a usual 26%. A year earlier, on 6 December 2016, 20 in every 100 stories were about people being harmed, the same as today.

Written by code from the day's numbers.

Where it happened

feelings in full →
Feelings Events Harm Warmth
Damascus, Syria -- attacks & violence: 85 stories, carried by 58 outlets; harsh wording in 94 in 100Brussels, Belgium -- attacks & violence: 85 stories, carried by 76 outlets; harsh wording in 93 in 100Halifax Harbour, Canada -- attacks & violence: 53 stories, carried by 53 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Pyongyang, North Korea -- attacks & violence: 55 stories, carried by 49 outlets; harsh wording in 95 in 100Amritsar, India -- attacks & violence: 73 stories, carried by 56 outlets; harsh wording in 78 in 100Bari, Italy -- deaths, cause not given: 73 stories, carried by 92 outlets; harsh wording in 82 in 100Berlin, Germany -- people displaced: 91 stories, carried by 80 outlets; harsh wording in 92 in 100Bangkok, Thailand -- attacks & violence: 80 stories, carried by 68 outlets; harsh wording in 94 in 100Rome, Italy -- attacks & violence: 75 stories, carried by 76 outlets; harsh wording in 97 in 100Ankara, Türkiye -- attacks & violence: 126 stories, carried by 101 outlets; harsh wording in 99 in 100Athens, Greece -- protests & strikes: 150 stories, carried by 99 outlets; harsh wording in 97 in 100Lagos, Nigeria -- people displaced: 218 stories, carried by 156 outlets; harsh wording in 90 in 100Belgrade, -- attacks & violence: 62 stories, carried by 70 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Tegucigalpa, Honduras -- protests & strikes: 84 stories, carried by 79 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Valletta, Malta -- attacks & violence: 143 stories, carried by 132 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Algiers, Algeria -- attacks & violence: 158 stories, carried by 143 outlets; harsh wording in 99 in 100Manchester, UK -- attacks & violence: 254 stories, carried by 227 outlets; harsh wording in 93 in 100Meerbusch, Germany -- accidents & disasters: 68 stories, carried by 166 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Kiev, Ukraine -- protests & strikes: 179 stories, carried by 225 outlets; harsh wording in 99 in 100Sanaa, Yemen -- attacks & violence: 386 stories, carried by 363 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100London, UK -- attacks & violence: 1,243 stories, carried by 912 outlets; harsh wording in 91 in 100Jerusalem, Israel -- attacks & violence: 1,263 stories, carried by 704 outlets; harsh wording in 94 in 100Los Angeles, US -- accidents & disasters: 1,849 stories, carried by 1,416 outlets; harsh wording in 94 in 100Ventura County, US -- accidents & disasters: 781 stories, carried by 956 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 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.