← 18 Dec Wednesday 19 December 2018 · to 23:59 UTC 20 Dec →
What the world's news said happened to people.
Counts of coverage, not of suffering
33,497 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 Dakar (Senegal), violence in Tirana and refugees in Rwanda. Senegal's coverage was about one and a half times as angry as the world's. Language across the world's news ran softer than usual.

Help and hope: reports of peace efforts ran at about one and a half times the usual rate →
Part of lifeRights & justice 30 in 100 of the stories about harm · about as usual Country that rose mostEstonia 79 in 100 of its 131 stories, usually 13
RegionEvery region about as usual
Tone of the words Softer than usual across the world's stories about harm

What the world's news was about today

how these are picked →
Protests & strikes

Senegal

48 of its 88 stories (55%) were about people being harmed, usually 17%. Dakar accounted for 44 of Senegal's 48 stories about harm, carried by 49 outlets. 41 of Dakar's 44 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of refugees ran at more than ten times the usual rate (41 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as angry as the world's.

Conflict & violence

Albania

48 of its 65 stories (74%) were about people being harmed, usually 27%. Tirana accounted for 47 of Albania's 48 stories about harm, carried by 49 outlets. Reports of arrests ran at about 4 times the usual rate (40 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as fearful as the world's.

Health

Rwanda

45 of its 79 stories (57%) were about people being harmed, usually 47%. Reports of refugees ran at about 7 times the usual rate (19 stories). Ebola was named in 20 of its stories about harm, about 6 times usual, with outbreaks.

6 more places the news pointed at
Protests & strikes

Congo

243 of its 325 stories (75%) were about people being harmed, usually 67%. 12 of the Congo River's 12 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of refugees ran at about three times the usual rate (24 stories). Its coverage was about twice as fearful as the world's.

Conflict & violence

Morocco

220 of its 272 stories (81%) were about people being harmed, usually 26%. Imlil accounted for 128 of Morocco's 220 stories about harm, carried by 143 outlets. Reports of arrests ran at more than ten times the usual rate (168 stories).

Conflict & violence

Bosnia

31 of its 37 stories (84%) were about people being harmed, usually 45%. Bihac accounted for 31 of Bosnia's 31 stories about harm, carried by 34 outlets. Its coverage was about 5 times as grief-stricken as the world's. Anger in its coverage rose to about twice its own usual.

Protests & strikes

Sierra Leone

39 of its 70 stories (56%) were about people being harmed, usually 37%. 9 of Freetown's 16 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of arrests ran at about 4 times the usual rate (8 stories).

Conflict & violence

Saudi Arabia

295 of its 664 stories (44%) were about people being harmed, usually 36%. Reports of abductions ran at about 8 times the usual rate (8 stories). Its coverage was about 5 times as grief-stricken as the world's.

Conflict & violence

Yemen

Reports of refugees ran at about 4 times the usual rate (83 stories). Extreme cold was named in 82 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual. Its coverage was about three times as angry as the world's. Fear in its coverage rose to about one and a half times its own usual.

Also named far more than usual: extreme cold in Yemen (82 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); ebola in Uganda (22 of its stories, about 4 times its usual); poisoning in Russia (55 of its stories, about three times its usual); wildfires in Syria (99 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); bridge collapse in Italy (20 of its stories, about 8 times its usual).

17 in 100 stories were about harm

usually 19; 18 the day before
23 in 10017 in 10020 Nov27 Nov4 Dec11 Dec19 Dec20 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 1002 Dec: 19 in 1003 Dec: 17 in 1004 Dec: 18 in 1005 Dec: 18 in 1006 Dec: 19 in 1007 Dec: 18 in 1008 Dec: 19 in 1009 Dec: 19 in 10010 Dec: 18 in 10011 Dec: 19 in 10012 Dec: 18 in 10013 Dec: 18 in 10014 Dec: 19 in 10015 Dec: 20 in 10016 Dec: 19 in 10017 Dec: 18 in 10018 Dec: 18 in 10019 Dec: 17 in 100 · this day

Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 19 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 33,497 stories about harm among 191,541 counted on 19 Dec.

Read the day's briefing

In Senegal, 55% of the news was about people being harmed, where 17% is usual. Stories about people being harmed made up 17 in every 100 of the day's 191,541 stories, below the usual 19. Help and hope: reports of peace efforts ran at about one and a half times the usual rate. In Rwanda's news, mentions of Ebola ran about 6 times their usual. On 19 December 2017, a year earlier, the share was 21 in every 100, against 17 today.

Written by code from the day's numbers.

Where it happened

feelings in full →
Feelings Events Harm Warmth
Great Barrier Reef, Australia -- accidents & disasters: 21 stories, carried by 29 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Harare, Zimbabwe -- protests & strikes: 76 stories, carried by 43 outlets; harsh wording in 99 in 100Bihac, Bosnia -- attacks & violence: 31 stories, carried by 34 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Budapest, Hungary -- protests & strikes: 47 stories, carried by 48 outlets; harsh wording in 98 in 100Dakar, Senegal -- protests & strikes: 44 stories, carried by 49 outlets; harsh wording in 98 in 100Kampala, Uganda -- disease & outbreaks: 44 stories, carried by 103 outlets; harsh wording in 84 in 100Baghdad, Iraq -- attacks & violence: 60 stories, carried by 68 outlets; harsh wording in 77 in 100Kaliningrad, Russia -- protests & strikes: 48 stories, carried by 47 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Tirana, Albania -- attacks & violence: 47 stories, carried by 49 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Damascus, Syria -- attacks & violence: 65 stories, carried by 63 outlets; harsh wording in 94 in 100Beirut, Lebanon -- attacks & violence: 50 stories, carried by 58 outlets; harsh wording in 96 in 100Atlas Mountains, Morocco -- attacks & violence: 53 stories, carried by 64 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Machu Picchu, Peru -- protests & strikes: 31 stories, carried by 56 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Islamabad, Pakistan -- attacks & violence: 104 stories, carried by 147 outlets; harsh wording in 85 in 100Marib, Yemen -- attacks & violence: 99 stories, carried by 79 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Jerusalem, Israel -- attacks & violence: 227 stories, carried by 103 outlets; harsh wording in 90 in 100Hodeida, Yemen -- attacks & violence: 168 stories, carried by 147 outlets; harsh wording in 99 in 100Tijuana, Mexico -- people displaced: 173 stories, carried by 142 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Moscow, Russia -- disease & outbreaks: 156 stories, carried by 265 outlets; harsh wording in 95 in 100Kwangjin, South Korea -- protests & strikes: 33 stories, carried by 186 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Hajin, Syria -- attacks & violence: 146 stories, carried by 178 outlets; harsh wording in 99 in 100Kabul, Afghanistan -- attacks & violence: 129 stories, carried by 183 outlets; harsh wording in 96 in 100Sacramento, US -- attacks & violence: 338 stories, carried by 378 outlets; harsh wording in 98 in 100Port Orchard, US -- accidents & disasters: 360 stories, carried by 403 outlets; harsh wording in 97 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 softer than usual. Filled dot: today. Ring: usual.

● Angerabout as usual
● Warmthabout as usual
● Griefa little less 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?

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.