← 12 Dec Wednesday 13 December 2017 · to 23:59 UTC 14 Dec →
What the world's news said happened to people.
Counts of coverage, not of suffering
45,581 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 Dhaka and Brussels and deaths in Bucharest. Romania's coverage was about 5 times as grief-stricken as the world's. Language across the world's news ran much softer than usual.

Part of lifeRights & justice 27 in 100 of the stories about harm · less than usual Country that rose mostRomania 44 in 100 of its 378 stories, usually 10
RegionEast Asia 19 in 100 of its stories, usually 16
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

Bangladesh

476 of its 776 stories (61%) were about people being harmed, usually 50%. Dhaka accounted for 251 of Bangladesh's 476 stories about harm, carried by 232 outlets. Reports of abductions ran at about 4 times the usual rate (56 stories). Diphtheria was named in 30 of its stories about harm, about 7 times usual. Its coverage was about one and a half times as fearful as the world's.

Deaths & injuries, cause not given

Romania

165 of its 378 stories (44%) were about people being harmed, usually 10%. Bucharest accounted for 159 of Romania's 165 stories about harm, carried by 148 outlets. Reports of people killed ran at more than ten times the usual rate (156 stories). Its coverage was about 5 times as grief-stricken as the world's.

Health

Belgium

197 of its 470 stories (42%) were about people being harmed, usually 16%. Brussels accounted for 175 of Belgium's 197 stories about harm, carried by 144 outlets. Reports of people injured ran at about 7 times the usual rate (49 stories). Anger in its coverage rose to about one and a half times its own usual.

6 more places the news pointed at
Conflict & violence

Yemen

284 of its 338 stories (84%) were about people being harmed, usually 75%. Sanaa accounted for 235 of Yemen's 284 stories about harm, carried by 197 outlets. Reports of arrests ran at about 9 times the usual rate (97 stories). Its coverage was about three times as angry as the world's.

Conflict & violence

China

804 of its 3,765 stories (21%) were about people being harmed, usually 14%. Reports of people killed ran at about three times the usual rate (381 stories). Polio was named in 133 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual, with poisoning. Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's.

Conflict & violence

Palestine

527 of its 958 stories (55%) were about people being harmed, usually 42%. Ramallah accounted for 310 of Palestine's 527 stories about harm, carried by 21 outlets. Reports of abductions ran at about 6 times the usual rate (7 stories).

Protests & strikes

Burundi

61 of its 85 stories (72%) were about people being harmed, usually 56%. Bujumbura accounted for 36 of Burundi's 61 stories about harm, carried by 41 outlets. 36 of Bujumbura's 36 stories were about protests or strikes.

Rights & justice

Congo

98 of its 122 stories (80%) were about people being harmed, usually 70%. Measles was named in 10 of its stories about harm, about 8 times usual. Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's. Fear in its coverage rose to about one and a half times its own usual.

Protests & strikes

Ethiopia

48 of its 132 stories (36%) were about people being harmed, usually 27%. 8 of Chelenko's 9 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of people killed ran at about twice the usual rate (33 stories).

Also named far more than usual: road crashes in Indonesia (91 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); outbreaks in Ghana (44 of its stories, about 5 times its usual); volcanic eruption in Tonga (12 of its stories, about 6 times its usual); polio in China (133 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); avalanche in Kashmir (19 of its stories, more than ten times its usual).

20 in 100 stories were about harm

usually 20; 21 the day before
24 in 10019 in 10014 Nov21 Nov28 Nov5 Dec13 Dec14 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 1007 Dec: 19 in 1008 Dec: 20 in 1009 Dec: 23 in 10010 Dec: 24 in 10011 Dec: 22 in 10012 Dec: 21 in 10013 Dec: 20 in 100 · this day

Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 13 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 45,581 stories about harm among 223,827 counted on 13 Dec.

Read the day's briefing

Indonesia's news mentioned road crashes more than ten times as often as usual. 20 in every 100 of the day's 223,827 news stories were about people being harmed, as usual. In Bangladesh, 61% of the news was about people being harmed, where 50% is usual. On 13 December 2016, a year earlier, the share was 20 in every 100, the same as today.

Written by code from the day's numbers.

Where it happened

feelings in full →
Feelings Events Harm Warmth
Bujumbura, Burundi -- protests & strikes: 36 stories, carried by 41 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Damascus, Syria -- attacks & violence: 73 stories, carried by 55 outlets; harsh wording in 95 in 100Raqqa, Syria -- attacks & violence: 53 stories, carried by 52 outlets; harsh wording in 98 in 100Islamabad, Pakistan -- attacks & violence: 136 stories, carried by 77 outlets; harsh wording in 96 in 100Okinawa, Japan -- accidents & disasters: 51 stories, carried by 58 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Belgrade, -- attacks & violence: 53 stories, carried by 57 outlets; harsh wording in 96 in 100Marawi, Philippines -- attacks & violence: 181 stories, carried by 77 outlets; harsh wording in 90 in 100Pyongyang, North Korea -- attacks & violence: 142 stories, carried by 95 outlets; harsh wording in 95 in 100Moscow, Russia -- attacks & violence: 174 stories, carried by 118 outlets; harsh wording in 92 in 100Brussels, Belgium -- attacks & violence: 175 stories, carried by 144 outlets; harsh wording in 91 in 100Ural Mountains, Russia -- people displaced: 60 stories, carried by 70 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Berlin, Germany -- deaths, cause not given: 182 stories, carried by 152 outlets; harsh wording in 93 in 100London, UK -- attacks & violence: 771 stories, carried by 566 outlets; harsh wording in 62 in 100Jakarta, Indonesia -- accidents & disasters: 116 stories, carried by 102 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Manchester, UK -- accidents & disasters: 156 stories, carried by 206 outlets; harsh wording in 88 in 100Sanaa, Yemen -- attacks & violence: 235 stories, carried by 197 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Philippine, Philippines -- attacks & violence: 314 stories, carried by 196 outlets; harsh wording in 89 in 100Bucharest, Romania -- deaths, cause not given: 159 stories, carried by 148 outlets; harsh wording in 95 in 100Nanjing, China -- attacks & violence: 229 stories, carried by 145 outlets; harsh wording in 94 in 100Dhaka, Bangladesh -- attacks & violence: 251 stories, carried by 232 outlets; harsh wording in 98 in 100Jerusalem, Israel -- attacks & violence: 933 stories, carried by 412 outlets; harsh wording in 92 in 100Houston, US -- accidents & disasters: 475 stories, carried by 487 outlets; harsh wording in 90 in 100Paris, France -- attacks & violence: 604 stories, carried by 571 outlets; harsh wording in 91 in 100Carpinteria, US -- accidents & disasters: 432 stories, carried by 646 outlets; harsh wording in 97 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.