← 30 Nov Saturday 1 December 2018 · to 23:59 UTC 2 Dec →
What the world's news said happened to people.
Counts of coverage, not of suffering
28,029 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 protests in Paris (France), violence in Baghdad and rights and justice in Bentiu. South Sudan's coverage was about twice as angry as the world's. Everywhere we counted, the words were much softer than usual.

Help and hope: reports of people freed or reunited ran at about three times the usual rate →
Part of lifeRights & justice 28 in 100 of the stories about harm · about as usual Country that rose mostSouth Sudan 96 in 100 of its 213 stories, usually 53
RegionNorth America 30 in 100 of its stories, usually 22
Tone of the words Much softer than usual across the world's stories about harm

What the world's news was about today

how these are picked →
Protests & strikes

France

1,063 of its 2,099 stories (51%) were about people being harmed, usually 25%. Paris accounted for 998 of France's 1,063 stories about harm, carried by 876 outlets. 939 of Paris' 998 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of people injured ran at about 7 times the usual rate (793 stories). Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's.

Conflict & violence

Iraq

286 of its 400 stories (72%) were about people being harmed, usually 57%. Baghdad accounted for 218 of Iraq's 286 stories about harm, carried by 346 outlets. Reports of people killed ran at about three times the usual rate (244 stories). Hurricane was named in 19 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual, with respiratory illness. Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's. Anger in its coverage rose to about one and a half times its own usual.

Rights & justice

South Sudan

204 of its 213 stories (96%) were about people being harmed, usually 53%. Bentiu accounted for 190 of South Sudan's 204 stories about harm, carried by 255 outlets. Reports of people affected ran at about 5 times the usual rate (152 stories). Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's.

Disasters & accidents

Slovakia

38 of its 58 stories (66%) were about people being harmed, usually 23%. House fires were named in 35 of its stories about harm, about three times usual. Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's.

6 more places the news pointed at
Protests & strikes

Spain

204 of its 637 stories (32%) were about people being harmed, usually 15%. 97 of Barcelona's 110 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of arrests ran at more than ten times the usual rate (155 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as fearful as the world's.

Protests & strikes

Romania

100 of its 385 stories (26%) were about people being harmed, usually 11%. 87 of Bucharest's 89 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of people injured ran at about 7 times the usual rate (94 stories). Extreme cold was named in 44 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual.

Conflict & violence

Burundi

76 of its 86 stories (88%) were about people being harmed, usually 39%. Reports of arrests ran at more than ten times the usual rate (73 stories). Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's.

Protests & strikes

Myanmar

36 of its 44 stories (82%) were about people being harmed, usually 50%. Yangon accounted for 32 of Myanmar's 36 stories about harm, carried by 23 outlets. 32 of Yangon's 32 stories were about protests or strikes.

Deaths & injuries, cause not given

Bahrain

56 of its 110 stories (51%) were about people being harmed, usually 30%. Reports of people killed ran at more than ten times the usual rate (37 stories). Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's.

Rights & justice

Israel

644 of its 1,055 stories (61%) were about people being harmed, usually 51%. Jerusalem accounted for 402 of Israel's 644 stories about harm, carried by 121 outlets. Reports of refugees ran at about three times the usual rate (98 stories).

Also named far more than usual: extreme cold in Romania (44 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); measles in Venezuela (22 of its stories, about 6 times its usual); wildfires in Australia (104 of its stories, about 5 times its usual); heavy rain in Syria (64 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); plane crash in Malaysia (32 of its stories, more than ten times its usual).

23 in 100 stories were about harm

usually 20; 19 the day before
24 in 10015 in 1002 Nov9 Nov16 Nov23 Nov1 Dec2 Nov: 19 in 1003 Nov: 20 in 1004 Nov: 21 in 1005 Nov: 18 in 1006 Nov: 18 in 1007 Nov: 15 in 1008 Nov: 19 in 1009 Nov: 21 in 10010 Nov: 24 in 10011 Nov: 23 in 10012 Nov: 20 in 10013 Nov: 19 in 10014 Nov: 19 in 10015 Nov: 20 in 10016 Nov: 20 in 10017 Nov: 22 in 10018 Nov: 23 in 10019 Nov: 20 in 10020 Nov: 20 in 10021 Nov: 20 in 10022 Nov: 20 in 10023 Nov: 20 in 10024 Nov: 21 in 10025 Nov: 22 in 10026 Nov: 21 in 10027 Nov: 19 in 10028 Nov: 19 in 10029 Nov: 19 in 10030 Nov: 19 in 1001 Dec: 23 in 100 · this day

Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 1 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 28,029 stories about harm among 124,439 counted on 1 Dec.

Read the day's briefing

On the side of help, reports of people freed or reunited ran at about three times the usual rate. France stood out: 51% of its news was about people being harmed, usually 25%. 23 in every 100 of the day's 124,439 news stories were about people being harmed, above the usual 20. A year earlier, on 1 December 2017, 20 in every 100 stories were about people being harmed, against 23 today. Over November, 20 in every 100 stories were about people being harmed, against 21 in November 2017.

Written by code from the day's numbers.

Where it happened

feelings in full →
Feelings Events Harm Warmth
Damascus, Syria -- attacks & violence: 45 stories, carried by 40 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Shanghai, China -- protests & strikes: 17 stories, carried by 66 outlets; harsh wording in 94 in 100Richnava, Slovakia -- accidents & disasters: 35 stories, carried by 37 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Surabaya, Indonesia -- protests & strikes: 46 stories, carried by 45 outlets; harsh wording in 96 in 100Cairo, Egypt -- protests & strikes: 59 stories, carried by 70 outlets; harsh wording in 93 in 100Leamington, Canada -- accidents & disasters: 5 stories, carried by 79 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Madrid, Spain -- protests & strikes: 59 stories, carried by 73 outlets; harsh wording in 97 in 100Dera Ismail Khan, Pakistan -- attacks & violence: 43 stories, carried by 53 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Sinaloa, Mexico -- attacks & violence: 20 stories, carried by 68 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Bucharest, Romania -- protests & strikes: 89 stories, carried by 87 outlets; harsh wording in 75 in 100Dawson Creek, Canada -- accidents & disasters: 21 stories, carried by 83 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Mexico City, Mexico -- protests & strikes: 51 stories, carried by 151 outlets; harsh wording in 90 in 100Riyadh, Saudi Arabia -- attacks & violence: 113 stories, carried by 152 outlets; harsh wording in 83 in 100Barcelona, Spain -- protests & strikes: 110 stories, carried by 110 outlets; harsh wording in 99 in 100Hajin, Syria -- protests & strikes: 90 stories, carried by 133 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Drummore, UK -- accidents & disasters: 22 stories, carried by 126 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Mogadishu, Somalia -- attacks & violence: 119 stories, carried by 123 outlets; harsh wording in 97 in 100Moscow, Russia -- attacks & violence: 351 stories, carried by 296 outlets; harsh wording in 90 in 100Buenos Aires, Argentina -- attacks & violence: 331 stories, carried by 308 outlets; harsh wording in 87 in 100Tehran, Iran -- protests & strikes: 135 stories, carried by 175 outlets; harsh wording in 99 in 100Baghdad, Iraq -- attacks & violence: 218 stories, carried by 346 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Houston, US -- attacks & violence: 1,673 stories, carried by 1,096 outlets; harsh wording in 66 in 100Paris, France -- protests & strikes: 998 stories, carried by 876 outlets; harsh wording in 99 in 100Anchorage, US -- accidents & disasters: 1,301 stories, carried by 1,079 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 softer 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

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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.