← 30 Dec Sunday 31 December 2017 · to 23:59 UTC 1 Jan →
What the world's news said happened to people.
Counts of coverage, not of suffering
23,447 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 →

Protests in Tehran (Iran), violence in Cairo and people injured in Kenya drew the news. Kenya's coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's. Across the world, the tone of the words was much harsher than usual.

Reports of people injured ran at about twice the usual rate, most often about the US and Afghanistan →
Part of lifeRights & justice 26 in 100 of the stories about harm · about as usual Country that rose mostKenya 66 in 100 of its 564 stories, usually 26
RegionCentral Asia 36 in 100 of its stories, usually 12
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 →
Protests & strikes

Iran

1,707 of its 2,295 stories (74%) were about people being harmed, usually 42%. Tehran accounted for 1,178 of Iran's 1,707 stories about harm, carried by 1,111 outlets. 1,152 of Tehran's 1,178 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of arrests ran at about 5 times the usual rate (988 stories). Flu was named in 340 of its stories about harm, about 5 times usual, with bird flu. Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's.

Conflict & violence

Egypt

276 of its 453 stories (61%) were about people being harmed, usually 44%. Cairo accounted for 248 of Egypt's 276 stories about harm, carried by 199 outlets. Reports of people injured ran at about twice the usual rate (94 stories). Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's.

Deaths & injuries, cause not given

Kenya

373 of its 564 stories (66%) were about people being harmed, usually 26%. Reports of people injured ran at more than ten times the usual rate (119 stories). Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's.

6 more places the news pointed at
Protests & strikes

Syria

256 of its 308 stories (83%) were about people being harmed, usually 69%. Ghouta accounted for 142 of Syria's 256 stories about harm, carried by 282 outlets. 93 of Ghouta's 142 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of evacuations ran at about three times the usual rate (112 stories). Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's. Grief in its coverage rose to about one and a half times its own usual.

Disasters & accidents

Greece

147 of its 256 stories (57%) were about people being harmed, usually 24%. Athens accounted for 134 of Greece's 147 stories about harm, carried by 127 outlets. Earthquake was named in 101 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual.

Conflict & violence

Kashmir

215 of its 338 stories (64%) were about people being harmed, usually 36%. Reports of people injured ran at about 8 times the usual rate (144 stories). Its coverage was about twice as fearful as the world's. Anger in its coverage rose to about twice its own usual.

Protests & strikes

Equatorial Guinea

18 of its 18 stories (100%) were about people being harmed, usually 27%. 12 of Malabo's 12 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of arrests ran at about three times the usual rate (18 stories).

Conflict & violence

Colombia

53 of its 87 stories (61%) were about people being harmed, usually 32%. Reports of people injured ran at about 4 times the usual rate (18 stories). Drought was named in 17 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual.

Disasters & accidents

Sierra Leone

25 of its 34 stories (74%) were about people being harmed, usually 33%. Reports of people affected ran at about three times the usual rate (13 stories). Heavy rain was named in 16 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual.

Also named far more than usual: earthquake in Greece (101 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); plane crash in Costa Rica (48 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); cholera in Zambia (30 of its stories, about 4 times its usual); hunger in Venezuela (24 of its stories, about 7 times its usual); heavy rain in Sierra Leone (16 of its stories, more than ten times its usual).

27 in 100 stories were about harm

usually 21; 27 the day before
27 in 10019 in 1002 Dec9 Dec16 Dec23 Dec31 Dec2 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 10029 Dec: 24 in 10030 Dec: 27 in 10031 Dec: 27 in 100 · this day

Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 31 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 23,447 stories about harm among 88,444 counted on 31 Dec.

Read the day's briefing

Stories about people being harmed made up 27 in every 100 of the day's 88,444 stories, above the usual 21. Mentions of the earthquake ran more than ten times their usual in Greece's news. Reports of people injured ran at about twice the usual rate, most often about the US and Afghanistan. the news turned to Iran for the second day running. This week the news turned most often to Peru, on 3 of 7 days; help rose on 2 of them.

Written by code from the day's numbers.

Where it happened

feelings in full →
Feelings Events Harm Warmth
Petersburg, Russia -- attacks & violence: 66 stories, carried by 51 outlets; harsh wording in 98 in 100Adamawa, Nigeria -- attacks & violence: 41 stories, carried by 47 outlets; harsh wording in 90 in 100Melbourne, Australia -- attacks & violence: 85 stories, carried by 160 outlets; harsh wording in 44 in 100Pulwama, Kashmir -- attacks & violence: 110 stories, carried by 44 outlets; harsh wording in 99 in 100Istanbul, Türkiye -- attacks & violence: 81 stories, carried by 75 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Manchester, UK -- attacks & violence: 84 stories, carried by 176 outlets; harsh wording in 83 in 100Jerusalem, Israel -- protests & strikes: 249 stories, carried by 103 outlets; harsh wording in 93 in 100Athens, Greece -- accidents & disasters: 134 stories, carried by 127 outlets; harsh wording in 57 in 100Nakuru, Kenya -- accidents & disasters: 128 stories, carried by 111 outlets; harsh wording in 99 in 100Islamabad, Pakistan -- protests & strikes: 173 stories, carried by 127 outlets; harsh wording in 95 in 100Nairobi, Kenya -- deaths, cause not given: 159 stories, carried by 147 outlets; harsh wording in 99 in 100Kashmir, Kashmir -- attacks & violence: 12 stories, carried by 93 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Jalalabad, Afghanistan -- attacks & violence: 121 stories, carried by 81 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100London, UK -- attacks & violence: 149 stories, carried by 211 outlets; harsh wording in 87 in 100Acapulco, Mexico -- accidents & disasters: 85 stories, carried by 101 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Moscow, Russia -- attacks & violence: 145 stories, carried by 163 outlets; harsh wording in 83 in 100Cairo, Egypt -- attacks & violence: 248 stories, carried by 199 outlets; harsh wording in 96 in 100Mashhad, Iran -- protests & strikes: 207 stories, carried by 183 outlets; harsh wording in 99 in 100Ghouta, Syria -- protests & strikes: 142 stories, carried by 282 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Kabul, Afghanistan -- attacks & violence: 250 stories, carried by 234 outlets; harsh wording in 98 in 100Sydney, Australia -- accidents & disasters: 619 stories, carried by 631 outlets; harsh wording in 80 in 100Denver, US -- attacks & violence: 516 stories, carried by 485 outlets; harsh wording in 99 in 100Las Vegas, US -- attacks & violence: 313 stories, carried by 358 outlets; harsh wording in 99 in 100Tehran, Iran -- protests & strikes: 1,178 stories, carried by 1,111 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 harsher than usual. Filled dot: today. Ring: usual.

● Angera little more than usual
● Warmthabout as usual
● Griefabout one and a half times 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.