← 19 Dec Thursday 20 December 2018 · to 23:59 UTC 21 Dec →
What the world's news said happened to people.
Counts of coverage, not of suffering
34,962 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 news turned to violence in Imlil, drownings in Senegal and arrests in Denmark. Morocco's coverage was about twice as fearful as the world's. Over the whole world, the tone was about as usual.

Part of lifeRights & justice 31 in 100 of the stories about harm · about as usual Country that rose mostMorocco 86 in 100 of its 474 stories, usually 28
RegionMiddle East & North Africa 44 in 100 of its stories, usually 40
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 →
Conflict & violence

Morocco

406 of its 474 stories (86%) were about people being harmed, usually 28%. Imlil accounted for 198 of Morocco's 406 stories about harm, carried by 148 outlets. Reports of arrests ran at about 6 times the usual rate (299 stories). Its coverage was about twice as fearful as the world's. Anger in its coverage rose to about three times its own usual.

Disasters & accidents

Senegal

38 of its 64 stories (59%) were about people being harmed, usually 19%. Reports of people affected ran at about 6 times the usual rate (27 stories). Drownings were named in 26 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual. Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's.

Rights & justice

Denmark

78 of its 262 stories (30%) were about people being harmed, usually 14%. Reports of arrests ran at more than ten times the usual rate (23 stories). Flu was named in 27 of its stories about harm, about 6 times usual, with road crashes. Grief in its coverage rose to about twice its own usual.

Protests & strikes

Nicaragua

67 of its 82 stories (82%) were about people being harmed, usually 68%. Managua accounted for 49 of Nicaragua's 67 stories about harm, carried by 49 outlets. 27 of Managua's 49 stories were about protests or strikes. Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's.

6 more places the news pointed at
Rights & justice

Spain

401 of its 954 stories (42%) were about people being harmed, usually 15%. Reports of arrests ran at about 4 times the usual rate (177 stories). Storms were named in 43 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual, with volcanic eruption and oil spill.

Protests & strikes

Bangladesh

262 of its 508 stories (52%) were about people being harmed, usually 33%. 110 of Dhaka's 133 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of people injured ran at about three times the usual rate (103 stories).

Health

Sierra Leone

43 of its 64 stories (67%) were about people being harmed, usually 38%. Reports of people killed ran at about twice the usual rate (19 stories). Haemorrhagic fever was named in 14 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual.

Conflict & violence

Belgium

86 of its 279 stories (31%) were about people being harmed, usually 24%. Reports of abductions ran at more than ten times the usual rate (31 stories). Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's. Grief in its coverage rose to about twice its own usual.

Protests & strikes

DR Congo

Kinshasa accounted for 31 of the DR Congo's 43 stories about harm, carried by 72 outlets. 17 of Kinshasa's 31 stories were about protests or strikes. Its coverage was about one and a half times as fearful as the world's.

Protests & strikes

Sudan

59 of Atbara's 66 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of arrests ran at about twice the usual rate (13 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as angry as the world's.

Also named far more than usual: drought in Argentina (28 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); ebola in Uganda (19 of its stories, about 5 times its usual); haemorrhagic fever in Sierra Leone (14 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); earthquake in Nepal (10 of its stories, about three times its usual); outbreaks in Palestine (79 of its stories, more than ten times its usual).

18 in 100 stories were about harm

usually 19; 17 the day before
23 in 10017 in 10021 Nov28 Nov5 Dec12 Dec20 Dec21 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 10020 Dec: 18 in 100 · this day

Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 20 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 34,962 stories about harm among 192,147 counted on 20 Dec.

Read the day's briefing

Morocco stood out: 86% of its news was about people being harmed, usually 28%. 18 in every 100 of the day's 192,147 news stories were about people being harmed, as usual. In Argentina's news, mentions of the drought ran more than ten times their usual. On 20 December 2017, a year earlier, the share was 20 in every 100, against 18 today.

Written by code from the day's numbers.

Where it happened

feelings in full →
Feelings Events Harm Warmth
Ankara, Türkiye -- attacks & violence: 49 stories, carried by 42 outlets; harsh wording in 98 in 100Kinshasa, DR Congo -- protests & strikes: 31 stories, carried by 72 outlets; harsh wording in 97 in 100Mogadishu, Somalia -- attacks & violence: 38 stories, carried by 40 outlets; harsh wording in 97 in 100Hodeida, Yemen -- attacks & violence: 51 stories, carried by 53 outlets; harsh wording in 92 in 100Kabul, Afghanistan -- attacks & violence: 74 stories, carried by 69 outlets; harsh wording in 80 in 100Munich, Germany -- attacks & violence: 86 stories, carried by 96 outlets; harsh wording in 98 in 100Cairo, Egypt -- attacks & violence: 121 stories, carried by 106 outlets; harsh wording in 93 in 100Madrid, Spain -- accidents & disasters: 137 stories, carried by 111 outlets; harsh wording in 98 in 100Brussels, Belgium -- attacks & violence: 75 stories, carried by 74 outlets; harsh wording in 99 in 100Quebec, Canada -- accidents & disasters: 77 stories, carried by 113 outlets; harsh wording in 95 in 100Atlas Mountains, Morocco -- attacks & violence: 100 stories, carried by 100 outlets; harsh wording in 99 in 100Rome, Italy -- accidents & disasters: 155 stories, carried by 109 outlets; harsh wording in 94 in 100Mexico City, Mexico -- people displaced: 93 stories, carried by 99 outlets; harsh wording in 99 in 100Tehran, Iran -- attacks & violence: 112 stories, carried by 98 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Dhaka, Bangladesh -- protests & strikes: 133 stories, carried by 128 outlets; harsh wording in 98 in 100Baghdad, Iraq -- attacks & violence: 111 stories, carried by 131 outlets; harsh wording in 92 in 100Moscow, Russia -- attacks & violence: 382 stories, carried by 308 outlets; harsh wording in 95 in 100Barcelona, Spain -- protests & strikes: 133 stories, carried by 122 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Mckinley County, US -- accidents & disasters: 112 stories, carried by 111 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Manbij, Syria -- attacks & violence: 109 stories, carried by 122 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Imlil, Morocco -- attacks & violence: 198 stories, carried by 148 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Hajin, Syria -- attacks & violence: 171 stories, carried by 161 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Paris, France -- protests & strikes: 243 stories, carried by 275 outlets; harsh wording in 95 in 100Sacramento, US -- attacks & violence: 314 stories, carried by 251 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 about as 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

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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.