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What the world's news said happened to people.
Counts of coverage, not of suffering
36,993 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.

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Protests in Jerusalem (Israel), violence in Brussels and the hurricane in Spain drew the news. Spain's coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's. In the world's news as a whole, the wording was about as usual.

Part of lifeRights & justice 32 in 100 of the stories about harm · about as usual Country that rose mostRomania 48 in 100 of its 266 stories, usually 13
RegionMiddle East & North Africa 41 in 100 of its stories, usually 38
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 →
Protests & strikes

Israel

1,268 of its 2,763 stories (46%) were about people being harmed, usually 34%. Jerusalem accounted for 1,141 of Israel's 1,268 stories about harm, carried by 432 outlets. 764 of Jerusalem's 1,141 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of abductions ran at about three times the usual rate (6 stories). Cholera was named in 51 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual. Its coverage was about one and a half times as angry as the world's.

Conflict & violence

Belgium

251 of its 530 stories (47%) were about people being harmed, usually 18%. Brussels accounted for 244 of Belgium's 251 stories about harm, carried by 193 outlets. Reports of refugees ran at more than ten times the usual rate (79 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as warm as the world's.

Rights & justice

Spain

331 of its 1,065 stories (31%) were about people being harmed, usually 19%. Reports of people injured ran at about 6 times the usual rate (92 stories). Hurricane was named in 78 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual, with avalanche, heavy rain and landslides. Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's.

Disasters & accidents

Indonesia

Jakarta accounted for 359 of Indonesia's 477 stories about harm, carried by 273 outlets. Reports of arrests ran at about 4 times the usual rate (89 stories). Tsunami was named in 283 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual, with hiv. Grief in its coverage rose to about twice its own usual.

6 more places the news pointed at
Protests & strikes

Honduras

85 of its 118 stories (72%) were about people being harmed, usually 37%. Tegucigalpa accounted for 73 of Honduras' 85 stories about harm, carried by 68 outlets. 72 of Tegucigalpa's 73 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of arrests ran at about three times the usual rate (71 stories).

Protests & strikes

Libya

104 of its 129 stories (81%) were about people being harmed, usually 58%. 17 of Tripoli's 32 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of abductions ran at more than ten times the usual rate (25 stories). Drownings were named in 17 of its stories about harm, about three times usual.

Protests & strikes

Niger

25 of its 30 stories (83%) were about people being harmed, usually 59%. 8 of Niamey's 11 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of evacuations ran at about 10 times the usual rate (12 stories). Warmth in its coverage rose to about one and a half times its own usual.

Deaths & injuries, cause not given

Romania

129 of its 266 stories (48%) were about people being harmed, usually 13%. Reports of people killed ran at about 6 times the usual rate (119 stories). Its coverage was about three times as grief-stricken as the world's. Fear in its coverage rose to about twice its own usual.

Conflict & violence

Netherlands

344 of its 814 stories (42%) were about people being harmed, usually 15%. Reports of people injured ran at more than ten times the usual rate (94 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as angry as the world's.

Protests & strikes

Senegal

40 of its 92 stories (43%) were about people being harmed, usually 20%. 31 of Dakar's 38 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of people affected ran at more than ten times the usual rate (38 stories).

Also named far more than usual: ebola in Sierra Leone (31 of its stories, about three times its usual); tropical storm in Philippines (63 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); malaria in Thailand (21 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); snowstorms in Germany (62 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); drownings in Libya (17 of its stories, about three times its usual).

19 in 100 stories were about harm

usually 20; 20 the day before
24 in 10019 in 10016 Nov23 Nov30 Nov7 Dec15 Dec16 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 10014 Dec: 20 in 10015 Dec: 19 in 100 · this day

Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 15 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 36,993 stories about harm among 195,538 counted on 15 Dec.

Read the day's briefing

In Indonesia's news, mentions of the tsunami ran more than ten times their usual. On 15 December 2016, a year earlier, the share was 20 in every 100, against 19 today. Israel's news was 46% about people being harmed, against a usual 34%. of the day's 195,538 news stories, 19 in every 100 were about people being harmed, below the usual 20.

Written by code from the day's numbers.

Where it happened

feelings in full →
Feelings Events Harm Warmth
Petersburg, Russia -- attacks & violence: 54 stories, carried by 52 outlets; harsh wording in 98 in 100Nasiriyah, Iraq -- attacks & violence: 55 stories, carried by 47 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Maastricht, Netherlands -- attacks & violence: 96 stories, carried by 90 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Hodeida, Yemen -- attacks & violence: 57 stories, carried by 68 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Berlin, Germany -- attacks & violence: 134 stories, carried by 123 outlets; harsh wording in 86 in 100Mogadishu, Somalia -- attacks & violence: 87 stories, carried by 66 outlets; harsh wording in 98 in 100Damascus, Syria -- attacks & violence: 102 stories, carried by 76 outlets; harsh wording in 99 in 100Bamako, Mali -- attacks & violence: 58 stories, carried by 65 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Tegucigalpa, Honduras -- protests & strikes: 73 stories, carried by 68 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Konstanz, Germany -- accidents & disasters: 73 stories, carried by 72 outlets; harsh wording in 99 in 100Bucharest, Romania -- deaths, cause not given: 96 stories, carried by 94 outlets; harsh wording in 96 in 100Manchester, UK -- accidents & disasters: 78 stories, carried by 177 outlets; harsh wording in 82 in 100Tasikmalaya, Indonesia -- accidents & disasters: 55 stories, carried by 86 outlets; harsh wording in 91 in 100Barcelona, Spain -- accidents & disasters: 94 stories, carried by 98 outlets; harsh wording in 98 in 100Tehran, Iran -- attacks & violence: 100 stories, carried by 104 outlets; harsh wording in 97 in 100Brussels, Belgium -- attacks & violence: 244 stories, carried by 193 outlets; harsh wording in 96 in 100Pyongyang, North Korea -- attacks & violence: 119 stories, carried by 126 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Moscow, Russia -- attacks & violence: 389 stories, carried by 283 outlets; harsh wording in 72 in 100Amsterdam, Netherlands -- people displaced: 181 stories, carried by 298 outlets; harsh wording in 97 in 100Jakarta, Indonesia -- accidents & disasters: 359 stories, carried by 273 outlets; harsh wording in 97 in 100Perpignan, France -- deaths, cause not given: 210 stories, carried by 264 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Jerusalem, Israel -- protests & strikes: 1,141 stories, carried by 432 outlets; harsh wording in 98 in 100San Diego, US -- accidents & disasters: 421 stories, carried by 470 outlets; harsh wording in 95 in 100Charlottesville, US -- protests & strikes: 435 stories, carried by 515 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 about as usual. Filled dot: today. Ring: usual.

● Angerabout as usual
● Warmthabout as usual
● Griefabout as 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.