← 20 Jan Sunday 21 January 2018 · to 23:59 UTC 22 Jan →
What the world's news said happened to people.
Counts of coverage, not of suffering
26,665 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 protests in Lima (Peru), evacuations in the Czechia and people killed in Botswana. the Czechia's coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's. Across the world, the tone of the words was harsher than usual.

Reports of abductions ran at about three times the usual rate, most often about the US and Afghanistan → Help and hope: reports of people freed or reunited ran at about twice the usual rate →
Part of lifeRights & justice 31 in 100 of the stories about harm · more than usual Country that rose mostCzechia 65 in 100 of its 133 stories, usually 14
RegionSouth Asia 41 in 100 of its stories, usually 28
Tone of the words Harsher than usual across the world's stories about harm

What the world's news was about today

how these are picked →
Protests & strikes

Peru

476 of its 596 stories (80%) were about people being harmed, usually 51%. Lima accounted for 370 of Peru's 476 stories about harm, carried by 372 outlets. 311 of Lima's 370 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of arrests ran at about 7 times the usual rate (158 stories). Flooding was named in 182 of its stories about harm, about 7 times usual, with plague. Warmth in its coverage rose to about one and a half times its own usual.

Deaths & injuries, cause not given

Czechia

87 of its 133 stories (65%) were about people being harmed, usually 14%. Reports of evacuations ran at more than ten times the usual rate (12 stories). Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's.

Conflict & violence

Botswana

25 of its 32 stories (78%) were about people being harmed, usually 17%. Reports of people killed ran at about 8 times the usual rate (23 stories). Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's.

6 more places the news pointed at
Protests & strikes

Afghanistan

1,722 of its 1,914 stories (90%) were about people being harmed, usually 65%. Kabul accounted for 1,516 of Afghanistan's 1,722 stories about harm, carried by 1,041 outlets. 884 of Kabul's 1,516 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of evacuations ran at more than ten times the usual rate (72 stories). Its coverage was about three times as angry as the world's.

Protests & strikes

Honduras

120 of its 129 stories (93%) were about people being harmed, usually 62%. Tegucigalpa accounted for 91 of Honduras' 120 stories about harm, carried by 89 outlets. 91 of Tegucigalpa's 91 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of people injured ran at about 8 times the usual rate (73 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as angry as the world's.

Protests & strikes

Lebanon

186 of its 252 stories (74%) were about people being harmed, usually 33%. Beirut accounted for 151 of Lebanon's 186 stories about harm, carried by 137 outlets. 131 of Beirut's 151 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of arrests ran at about 8 times the usual rate (59 stories).

Protests & strikes

Ethiopia

99 of its 177 stories (56%) were about people being harmed, usually 40%. 55 of Addis Ababa's 61 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of people injured ran at more than ten times the usual rate (83 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as warm as the world's. Grief in its coverage rose to about 4 times its own usual.

Protests & strikes

North Korea

41 of its 190 stories (22%) were about people being harmed, usually 13%. 20 of Pyongyang's 28 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of people injured ran at more than ten times the usual rate (20 stories). Extreme cold was named in 19 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual.

Conflict & violence

Venezuela

110 of its 152 stories (72%) were about people being harmed, usually 45%. Reports of people killed ran at about twice the usual rate (96 stories). Its coverage was about 4 times as grief-stricken as the world's.

Also named far more than usual: earthquake in Chile (76 of its stories, about 8 times its usual); drought in Egypt (88 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); diphtheria in Yemen (58 of its stories, about three times its usual); extreme cold in North Korea (19 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); measles in Indonesia (23 of its stories, more than ten times its usual).

25 in 100 stories were about harm

usually 23; 25 the day before
27 in 10020 in 10023 Dec30 Dec6 Jan13 Jan21 Jan23 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 1001 Jan: 27 in 1002 Jan: 25 in 1003 Jan: 22 in 1004 Jan: 23 in 1005 Jan: 22 in 1006 Jan: 24 in 1007 Jan: 24 in 1008 Jan: 22 in 1009 Jan: 21 in 10010 Jan: 20 in 10011 Jan: 21 in 10012 Jan: 22 in 10013 Jan: 25 in 10014 Jan: 24 in 10015 Jan: 24 in 10016 Jan: 23 in 10017 Jan: 22 in 10018 Jan: 22 in 10019 Jan: 22 in 10020 Jan: 25 in 10021 Jan: 25 in 100 · this day

Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 21 Jan. 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 26,665 stories about harm among 108,451 counted on 21 Jan.

Read the day's briefing

Reports of people freed or reunited, a sign of help, ran at about twice the usual rate. 25 in every 100 of the day's 108,451 news stories were about people being harmed, above the usual 23. Abductions were reported at about three times the usual rate, most often about the US and Afghanistan. Papua New Guinea's news mentioned the earthquake about three times as often as usual. Peru's news was 80% about people being harmed, against a usual 51%. This week the news turned most often to Chile, on 3 of 7 days; help rose on 4 of them.

Written by code from the day's numbers.

Where it happened

feelings in full →
Feelings Events Harm Warmth
Petersburg, Russia -- protests & strikes: 61 stories, carried by 66 outlets; harsh wording in 98 in 100Bonn, Germany -- people displaced: 42 stories, carried by 94 outlets; harsh wording in 88 in 100Hodeida, Yemen -- disease & outbreaks: 57 stories, carried by 64 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Kremlin, Russia -- attacks & violence: 94 stories, carried by 94 outlets; harsh wording in 94 in 100Sanaa, Yemen -- attacks & violence: 110 stories, carried by 98 outlets; harsh wording in 98 in 100Sydney, Australia -- accidents & disasters: 266 stories, carried by 197 outlets; harsh wording in 47 in 100Caracas, Venezuela -- attacks & violence: 100 stories, carried by 92 outlets; harsh wording in 99 in 100Kadovar Island, Papua New Guinea -- accidents & disasters: 79 stories, carried by 88 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Tegucigalpa, Honduras -- protests & strikes: 91 stories, carried by 89 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Baghdad, Iraq -- attacks & violence: 130 stories, carried by 111 outlets; harsh wording in 98 in 100Anadolu, Türkiye -- attacks & violence: 79 stories, carried by 114 outlets; harsh wording in 99 in 100Beirut, Lebanon -- protests & strikes: 151 stories, carried by 137 outlets; harsh wording in 98 in 100Ankara, Türkiye -- attacks & violence: 138 stories, carried by 147 outlets; harsh wording in 94 in 100Jerusalem, Israel -- protests & strikes: 595 stories, carried by 268 outlets; harsh wording in 92 in 100Melbourne, Australia -- protests & strikes: 185 stories, carried by 187 outlets; harsh wording in 84 in 100Tarapaca, Chile -- accidents & disasters: 58 stories, carried by 146 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Herat, Afghanistan -- attacks & violence: 109 stories, carried by 162 outlets; harsh wording in 94 in 100Barnstaple, UK -- accidents & disasters: 34 stories, carried by 151 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Glencoe, UK -- accidents & disasters: 80 stories, carried by 169 outlets; harsh wording in 99 in 100Lima, Peru -- protests & strikes: 370 stories, carried by 372 outlets; harsh wording in 99 in 100Los Angeles, US -- protests & strikes: 590 stories, carried by 670 outlets; harsh wording in 87 in 100Montecito, US -- accidents & disasters: 401 stories, carried by 438 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Afrin, Syria -- attacks & violence: 797 stories, carried by 513 outlets; harsh wording in 98 in 100Kabul, Afghanistan -- protests & strikes: 1,516 stories, carried by 1,041 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 harsher than usual. Filled dot: today. Ring: usual.

● Angerabout one and a half times usual
● Warmthabout as usual
● Griefa little more 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?

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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.