← 27 Dec Thursday 28 December 2017 · to 23:59 UTC 29 Dec →
What the world's news said happened to people.
Counts of coverage, not of suffering
37,113 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 Kabul, abductions in Peru and people killed in Namibia. Afghanistan's coverage was about three times as grief-stricken as the world's. Over the whole world, the tone was much harsher than usual.

Help and hope: reports of people freed or reunited ran at about twice the usual rate →
Part of lifeRights & justice 27 in 100 of the stories about harm · about as usual Country that rose mostAfghanistan 92 in 100 of its 1,565 stories, usually 60
RegionMiddle East & North Africa 44 in 100 of its stories, usually 38
Tone of the words Much harsher than usual across the world's stories about harm

What the world's news was about today

how these are picked →
Conflict & violence

Afghanistan

1,432 of its 1,565 stories (92%) were about people being harmed, usually 60%. Kabul accounted for 1,358 of Afghanistan's 1,432 stories about harm, carried by 1,276 outlets. Reports of people injured ran at about 4 times the usual rate (1,240 stories). Power cuts were named in 36 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual. 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.

Rights & justice

Peru

196 of its 366 stories (54%) were about people being harmed, usually 28%. Reports of abductions ran at more than ten times the usual rate (11 stories). Hurricane was named in 13 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual.

6 more places the news pointed at
Conflict & violence

Syria

561 of its 653 stories (86%) were about people being harmed, usually 67%. Ghouta accounted for 305 of Syria's 561 stories about harm, carried by 389 outlets. Reports of evacuations ran at about three times the usual rate (200 stories). Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's.

Conflict & violence

Tunisia

40 of its 58 stories (69%) were about people being harmed, usually 37%. Tunis accounted for 39 of Tunisia's 40 stories about harm, carried by 12 outlets. Reports of people killed ran at about 5 times the usual rate (33 stories). Its coverage was about twice as fearful as the world's.

Conflict & violence

Armenia

61 of its 204 stories (30%) were about people being harmed, usually 22%. Reports of arrests ran at about 7 times the usual rate (28 stories). Food poisoning was named in 25 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual, with poisoning. Fear in its coverage rose to about twice its own usual.

Conflict & violence

Russia

1,115 of its 2,805 stories (40%) were about people being harmed, usually 16%. Reports of refugees ran at more than ten times the usual rate (34 stories). Its coverage was about three times as fearful as the world's.

Conflict & violence

Uganda

134 of its 264 stories (51%) were about people being harmed, usually 34%. Reports of people injured ran at about 7 times the usual rate (74 stories). Its coverage was about three times as angry as the world's.

Rights & justice

Jordan

76 of its 237 stories (32%) were about people being harmed, usually 19%. Reports of arrests ran at about 4 times the usual rate (38 stories). Its coverage was about three times as grief-stricken as the world's.

Also named far more than usual: storms in Indonesia (51 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); food poisoning in Armenia (25 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); bird flu in Bahrain (12 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); respiratory illness in North Korea (16 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); plane crash in Egypt (21 of its stories, more than ten times its usual).

23 in 100 stories were about harm

usually 21; 23 the day before
24 in 10019 in 10029 Nov6 Dec13 Dec20 Dec28 Dec29 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 10016 Dec: 21 in 10017 Dec: 22 in 10018 Dec: 22 in 10019 Dec: 21 in 10020 Dec: 20 in 10021 Dec: 20 in 10022 Dec: 20 in 10023 Dec: 23 in 10024 Dec: 23 in 10025 Dec: 24 in 10026 Dec: 23 in 10027 Dec: 23 in 10028 Dec: 23 in 100 · this day

Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 28 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 37,113 stories about harm among 163,782 counted on 28 Dec.

Read the day's briefing

Indonesia's news mentioned storms more than ten times as often as usual. Help and hope: reports of people freed or reunited ran at about twice the usual rate. In Afghanistan, 92% of the news was about people being harmed, where 60% is usual. Stories about people being harmed made up 23 in every 100 of the day's 163,782 stories, above the usual 21.

Written by code from the day's numbers.

Where it happened

feelings in full →
Feelings Events Harm Warmth
Sanaa, Yemen -- attacks & violence: 38 stories, carried by 36 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Sydney, Australia -- accidents & disasters: 99 stories, carried by 87 outlets; harsh wording in 86 in 100Lima, Peru -- protests & strikes: 61 stories, carried by 48 outlets; harsh wording in 97 in 100Yarrawonga, Australia -- accidents & disasters: 17 stories, carried by 39 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Philippine, Philippines -- attacks & violence: 205 stories, carried by 87 outlets; harsh wording in 94 in 100Bir al-Abd, Egypt -- attacks & violence: 44 stories, carried by 43 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Bali, Indonesia -- accidents & disasters: 48 stories, carried by 44 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Hodeida, Yemen -- attacks & violence: 52 stories, carried by 58 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Islamabad, Pakistan -- attacks & violence: 251 stories, carried by 108 outlets; harsh wording in 95 in 100Mogadishu, Somalia -- attacks & violence: 66 stories, carried by 66 outlets; harsh wording in 98 in 100Istanbul, Türkiye -- attacks & violence: 154 stories, carried by 119 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Xie Yang, China -- protests & strikes: 27 stories, carried by 95 outlets; harsh wording in 96 in 100Xinjiang, China -- protests & strikes: 94 stories, carried by 87 outlets; harsh wording in 99 in 100Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam -- attacks & violence: 88 stories, carried by 99 outlets; harsh wording in 97 in 100London, UK -- attacks & violence: 384 stories, carried by 375 outlets; harsh wording in 66 in 100Jerusalem, Israel -- attacks & violence: 720 stories, carried by 248 outlets; harsh wording in 95 in 100Northern Ireland, UK -- accidents & disasters: 107 stories, carried by 179 outlets; harsh wording in 92 in 100Baghdad, Iraq -- attacks & violence: 190 stories, carried by 158 outlets; harsh wording in 98 in 100Mashhad, Iran -- protests & strikes: 143 stories, carried by 161 outlets; harsh wording in 99 in 100Ghouta, Syria -- people displaced: 305 stories, carried by 389 outlets; harsh wording in 99 in 100International Falls, US -- accidents & disasters: 274 stories, carried by 321 outlets; harsh wording in 99 in 100Erie, US -- accidents & disasters: 455 stories, carried by 506 outlets; harsh wording in 90 in 100Petersburg, Russia -- attacks & violence: 648 stories, carried by 701 outlets; harsh wording in 99 in 100Kabul, Afghanistan -- attacks & violence: 1,358 stories, carried by 1,276 outlets; harsh wording in 99 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 harsher than 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

The week in human impact

Read the week →

Unlock a year of trends, free. Follow up to 5 countries, with a bell when their news changes, and 👍 vote for Pro — ten years of the archive, any period, daily alerts.

Create a free account

Sign in · a username, an email and a password.

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.