← 30 Jan Wednesday 31 January 2018 · to 23:59 UTC 1 Feb →
What the world's news said happened to people.
Counts of coverage, not of suffering
44,383 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 →

Most of the day's attention went to people killed in Bahrain, violence in Afrin and arrests in Uzbekistan. Syria's coverage was about twice as angry as the world's. Language across the world's news ran about as usual.

Reports of people falling ill ran at about 4 times the usual rate, most often about the US and Australia → Help and hope: reports of people freed or reunited ran at about three times the usual rate →
Part of lifeRights & justice 30 in 100 of the stories about harm · about as usual Country that rose mostBahrain 49 in 100 of its 212 stories, usually 18
RegionCentral Asia 27 in 100 of its stories, usually 17
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 →
Rights & justice

Bahrain

103 of its 212 stories (49%) were about people being harmed, usually 18%. Reports of people killed ran at about 4 times the usual rate (41 stories). Road crashes were named in 10 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual. Its coverage was about twice as fearful as the world's.

Conflict & violence

Syria

Afrin accounted for 225 of Syria's 441 stories about harm, carried by 173 outlets. Reports of refugees ran at about three times the usual rate (128 stories). Cholera was named in 10 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual. Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's.

Shelter & services

Uzbekistan

30 of its 60 stories (50%) were about people being harmed, usually 14%. Reports of arrests ran at about 4 times the usual rate (7 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as warm as the world's.

Health

Namibia

36 of its 122 stories (30%) were about people being harmed, usually 21%. Reports of people affected ran at about three times the usual rate (7 stories). Cholera was named in 18 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual.

6 more places the news pointed at
Rights & justice

North Korea

245 of its 664 stories (37%) were about people being harmed, usually 14%. Reports of refugees ran at about 6 times the usual rate (5 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as angry as the world's.

Conflict & violence

Bolivia

27 of its 42 stories (64%) were about people being harmed, usually 17%. Reports of people killed ran at about 5 times the usual rate (21 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as warm as the world's.

Conflict & violence

Vietnam

330 of its 781 stories (42%) were about people being harmed, usually 26%. Reports of evacuations ran at more than ten times the usual rate (88 stories). Its coverage was about three times as fearful as the world's.

Conflict & violence

Türkiye

550 of its 882 stories (62%) were about people being harmed, usually 49%. Reports of refugees ran at about 7 times the usual rate (129 stories). Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's. Grief in its coverage rose to about three times its own usual.

Rights & justice

Belgium

166 of its 452 stories (37%) were about people being harmed, usually 24%. Brussels accounted for 162 of Belgium's 166 stories about harm, carried by 170 outlets. Its coverage was about one and a half times as warm as the world's.

Conflict & violence

Jordan

117 of its 344 stories (34%) were about people being harmed, usually 25%. Reports of people killed ran at about three times the usual rate (71 stories). Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's.

Also named far more than usual: poisoning in North Macedonia (13 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); hunger in Niger (14 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); tsunami in Japan (67 of its stories, about 6 times its usual); cyclone in New Zealand (75 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); flu in Latvia (12 of its stories, more than ten times its usual).

20 in 100 stories were about harm

usually 22; 19 the day before
25 in 10019 in 1002 Jan9 Jan16 Jan23 Jan31 Jan2 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 10022 Jan: 21 in 10023 Jan: 21 in 10024 Jan: 20 in 10025 Jan: 20 in 10026 Jan: 20 in 10027 Jan: 23 in 10028 Jan: 24 in 10029 Jan: 20 in 10030 Jan: 19 in 10031 Jan: 20 in 100 · this day

Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 31 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 44,383 stories about harm among 224,262 counted on 31 Jan.

Read the day's briefing

Help and hope: reports of people freed or reunited ran at about three times the usual rate. of the day's 224,262 news stories, 20 in every 100 were about people being harmed, below the usual 22. People falling ill were reported at about 4 times the usual rate, most often about the US and Australia. Bahrain's news was 49% about people being harmed, against a usual 18%. In Namibia's news, mentions of the cholera ran more than ten times their usual.

Written by code from the day's numbers.

Where it happened

feelings in full →
Feelings Events Harm Warmth
Doha, Qatar -- attacks & violence: 67 stories, carried by 53 outlets; harsh wording in 81 in 100Sanaa, Yemen -- attacks & violence: 130 stories, carried by 82 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Amman, Jordan -- attacks & violence: 57 stories, carried by 54 outlets; harsh wording in 95 in 100Mondulkiri, Cambodia -- protests & strikes: 44 stories, carried by 48 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Tokyo, Japan -- accidents & disasters: 108 stories, carried by 94 outlets; harsh wording in 88 in 100Moscow, Russia -- attacks & violence: 115 stories, carried by 100 outlets; harsh wording in 91 in 100Mediterranean Sea, -- attacks & violence: 62 stories, carried by 62 outlets; harsh wording in 98 in 100Sydney, Australia -- deaths, cause not given: 262 stories, carried by 181 outlets; harsh wording in 89 in 100Baghdad, Iraq -- attacks & violence: 79 stories, carried by 85 outlets; harsh wording in 94 in 100Manila, Philippines -- attacks & violence: 216 stories, carried by 164 outlets; harsh wording in 94 in 100Hindu Kush, Afghanistan -- accidents & disasters: 70 stories, carried by 80 outlets; harsh wording in 99 in 100Cairo, Egypt -- protests & strikes: 180 stories, carried by 134 outlets; harsh wording in 96 in 100Istanbul, Türkiye -- attacks & violence: 181 stories, carried by 142 outlets; harsh wording in 98 in 100Wan Chai, Hong Kong -- attacks & violence: 92 stories, carried by 86 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Islamabad, Pakistan -- accidents & disasters: 246 stories, carried by 168 outlets; harsh wording in 98 in 100Canberra, Australia -- attacks & violence: 138 stories, carried by 203 outlets; harsh wording in 91 in 100Reyhanli, Türkiye -- attacks & violence: 139 stories, carried by 111 outlets; harsh wording in 99 in 100Nairobi, Kenya -- protests & strikes: 296 stories, carried by 193 outlets; harsh wording in 97 in 100Seoul, South Korea -- attacks & violence: 140 stories, carried by 183 outlets; harsh wording in 94 in 100Afrin, Syria -- attacks & violence: 225 stories, carried by 173 outlets; harsh wording in 95 in 100Kabul, Afghanistan -- attacks & violence: 395 stories, carried by 233 outlets; harsh wording in 97 in 100Saigon, Vietnam -- attacks & violence: 235 stories, carried by 228 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Las Vegas, US -- attacks & violence: 433 stories, carried by 602 outlets; harsh wording in 99 in 100Washington, US -- attacks & violence: 3,700 stories, carried by 1,858 outlets; harsh wording in 87 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?

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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.