← 20 Dec Friday 21 December 2018 · to 23:59 UTC 22 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 →

Most of the day's attention went to protests in Khartoum (Sudan), a disaster in Karvina and violence in Imlil. Morocco's coverage was about three times as grief-stricken as the world's. In the world's news as a whole, the wording was softer than usual.

Part of lifeRights & justice 31 in 100 of the stories about harm · about as usual Country that rose mostCzechia 78 in 100 of its 407 stories, usually 9
RegionCentral Asia 19 in 100 of its stories, usually 13
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

Sudan

131 of its 161 stories (81%) were about people being harmed, usually 59%. Khartoum accounted for 62 of Sudan's 131 stories about harm, carried by 45 outlets. 58 of Khartoum's 62 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of people killed ran at about twice the usual rate (115 stories). Train derailment was named in 17 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual. Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's.

Disasters & accidents

Czechia

318 of its 407 stories (78%) were about people being harmed, usually 9%. Karvina accounted for 260 of the Czechia's 318 stories about harm, carried by 322 outlets. Reports of people injured ran at more than ten times the usual rate (235 stories). Gas explosion was named in 19 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual. Its coverage was about three times as grief-stricken as the world's.

Conflict & violence

Morocco

247 of its 289 stories (85%) were about people being harmed, usually 35%. Imlil accounted for 137 of Morocco's 247 stories about harm, carried by 207 outlets. Reports of people injured ran at about 5 times the usual rate (5 stories). Its coverage was about three times as grief-stricken as the world's. Fear in its coverage rose to about one and a half times its own usual.

Deaths & injuries, cause not given

Nepal

118 of its 195 stories (61%) were about people being harmed, usually 29%. Kathmandu accounted for 79 of Nepal's 118 stories about harm, carried by 84 outlets. Reports of people injured ran at about 8 times the usual rate (90 stories). Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's.

6 more places the news pointed at
Protests & strikes

Spain

400 of its 1,102 stories (36%) were about people being harmed, usually 16%. 256 of Barcelona's 286 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of people injured ran at about 8 times the usual rate (54 stories). Storms were named in 20 of its stories about harm, about 4 times usual.

Protests & strikes

Argentina

56 of its 191 stories (29%) were about people being harmed, usually 16%. 3 of Buenos Aires' 5 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of arrests ran at about three times the usual rate (6 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as warm as the world's. Fear in its coverage rose to about one and a half times its own usual.

Health

Denmark

100 of its 283 stories (35%) were about people being harmed, usually 14%. Reports of arrests ran at about 9 times the usual rate (26 stories). Ebola was named in 12 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual, with hiv.

Rights & justice

Austria

102 of its 356 stories (29%) were about people being harmed, usually 13%. Reports of people injured ran at more than ten times the usual rate (11 stories). Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's.

Disasters & accidents

Iceland

26 of its 71 stories (37%) were about people being harmed, usually 15%. Volcanic eruption was named in 21 of its stories about harm, about 5 times usual. Its coverage was about one and a half times as fearful as the world's.

Rights & justice

Jordan

60 of its 185 stories (32%) were about people being harmed, usually 18%. Reports of people killed ran at about 4 times the usual rate (38 stories). Its coverage was about 4 times as grief-stricken as the world's.

Also named far more than usual: volcanic eruption in Iceland (21 of its stories, about 5 times its usual); ebola in Rwanda (20 of its stories, about 6 times its usual); power cuts in Iraq (36 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); tsunami in Papua New Guinea (12 of its stories, about 8 times its usual); hepatitis in Vanuatu (11 of its stories, more than ten times its usual).

19 in 100 stories were about harm

usually 19; 18 the day before
23 in 10017 in 10022 Nov29 Nov6 Dec13 Dec21 Dec22 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 10021 Dec: 19 in 100 · this day

Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 21 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 174,926 counted on 21 Dec.

Read the day's briefing

Mentions of volcanic eruption ran about 5 times their usual in Iceland's news. of the day's 174,926 news stories, 19 in every 100 were about people being harmed, as usual. Sudan stood out: 81% of its news was about people being harmed, usually 59%. A year earlier, on 21 December 2017, 20 in every 100 stories were about people being harmed, against 19 today.

Written by code from the day's numbers.

Where it happened

feelings in full →
Feelings Events Harm Warmth
Khartoum, Sudan -- protests & strikes: 62 stories, carried by 45 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Brussels, Belgium -- protests & strikes: 65 stories, carried by 67 outlets; harsh wording in 95 in 100Xinjiang, China -- protests & strikes: 61 stories, carried by 58 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Belgrade, -- deaths, cause not given: 45 stories, carried by 52 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Manbij, Syria -- attacks & violence: 61 stories, carried by 53 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Dhaka, Bangladesh -- protests & strikes: 91 stories, carried by 80 outlets; harsh wording in 98 in 100Herat, Afghanistan -- attacks & violence: 63 stories, carried by 63 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Atlas Mountains, Morocco -- attacks & violence: 68 stories, carried by 72 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Berlin, Germany -- attacks & violence: 70 stories, carried by 95 outlets; harsh wording in 96 in 100Toronto, Canada -- attacks & violence: 191 stories, carried by 240 outlets; harsh wording in 91 in 100Chemnitz, Germany -- protests & strikes: 67 stories, carried by 72 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Kathmandu, Nepal -- deaths, cause not given: 79 stories, carried by 84 outlets; harsh wording in 99 in 100Damascus, Syria -- attacks & violence: 76 stories, carried by 79 outlets; harsh wording in 99 in 100Sun Prairie, US -- accidents & disasters: 92 stories, carried by 93 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Cavusoglu, Türkiye -- attacks & violence: 52 stories, carried by 99 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Chicago, US -- deaths, cause not given: 325 stories, carried by 311 outlets; harsh wording in 83 in 100Ankara, Türkiye -- attacks & violence: 120 stories, carried by 126 outlets; harsh wording in 99 in 100Trinanes, Spain -- protests & strikes: 7 stories, carried by 131 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Hodeida, Yemen -- attacks & violence: 278 stories, carried by 185 outlets; harsh wording in 97 in 100Imlil, Morocco -- attacks & violence: 137 stories, carried by 207 outlets; harsh wording in 96 in 100Tijuana, Mexico -- people displaced: 195 stories, carried by 214 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Barcelona, Spain -- protests & strikes: 286 stories, carried by 237 outlets; harsh wording in 99 in 100Karvina, Czechia -- accidents & disasters: 260 stories, carried by 322 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Kabul, Afghanistan -- attacks & violence: 270 stories, carried by 265 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.

● Angera little less than 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?

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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.