← 4 Jan Saturday 5 January 2019 · to 23:59 UTC 6 Jan →
What the world's news said happened to people.
Counts of coverage, not of suffering
19,547 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 tropical storm in Thailand, illness in Enkoping and violence in Arakan. Myanmar's coverage was about twice as angry as the world's. Everywhere we counted, the words were harsher than usual.

Part of lifeRights & justice 28 in 100 of the stories about harm · less than usual Country that rose mostThailand 64 in 100 of its 399 stories, usually 29
RegionCentral Asia 17 in 100 of its stories, usually 12
Tone of the words Harsher than usual across the world's stories about harm

What the world's news was about today

how these are picked →
Disasters & accidents

Thailand

256 of its 399 stories (64%) were about people being harmed, usually 29%. Nakhon Si Thammarat accounted for 142 of Thailand's 256 stories about harm, carried by 152 outlets. Reports of evacuations ran at about 9 times the usual rate (64 stories). Tropical storm was named in 231 of its stories about harm, about three times usual, with flooding and storm surge.

Health

Sweden

112 of its 162 stories (69%) were about people being harmed, usually 32%. Enkoping accounted for 96 of Sweden's 112 stories about harm, carried by 180 outlets. Ebola was named in 95 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual. Its coverage was about one and a half times as fearful as the world's.

Conflict & violence

Myanmar

33 of its 38 stories (87%) were about people being harmed, usually 58%. Arakan accounted for 29 of Myanmar's 33 stories about harm, carried by 24 outlets. Reports of people injured ran at about 5 times the usual rate (22 stories). Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's.

Protests & strikes

Sudan

65 of its 75 stories (87%) were about people being harmed, usually 70%. Khartoum accounted for 48 of Sudan's 65 stories about harm, carried by 41 outlets. 44 of Khartoum's 48 stories were about protests or strikes. Its coverage was about one and a half times as angry as the world's.

6 more places the news pointed at
Disasters & accidents

Fiji

40 of its 74 stories (54%) were about people being harmed, usually 23%. Reports of evacuations ran at more than ten times the usual rate (7 stories). Cyclone was named in 28 of its stories about harm, about three times usual.

Disasters & accidents

Austria

62 of its 187 stories (33%) were about people being harmed, usually 10%. Storms were named in 54 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual. Its coverage was about one and a half times as fearful as the world's.

Rights & justice

Egypt

191 of its 364 stories (52%) were about people being harmed, usually 34%. Cairo accounted for 143 of Egypt's 191 stories about harm, carried by 126 outlets. Reports of arrests ran at about 6 times the usual rate (114 stories).

Conflict & violence

Yemen

138 of its 169 stories (82%) were about people being harmed, usually 69%. Sanaa accounted for 73 of Yemen's 138 stories about harm, carried by 76 outlets. Its coverage was about three times as angry as the world's. Fear in its coverage rose to about twice its own usual.

Disasters & accidents

Italy

198 of its 620 stories (32%) were about people being harmed, usually 23%. Reports of refugees ran at more than ten times the usual rate (44 stories). Hypothermia was named in 15 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual.

Conflict & violence

Afghanistan

152 of its 230 stories (66%) were about people being harmed, usually 56%. Reports of abductions ran at about 4 times the usual rate (8 stories). Its coverage was about three times as angry as the world's.

Also named far more than usual: storms in Austria (54 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); cyclone in Fiji (28 of its stories, about three times its usual); natural hazards in Greece (11 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); cholera in Zimbabwe (14 of its stories, about 4 times its usual); hunger in Congo (22 of its stories, more than ten times its usual).

19 in 100 stories were about harm

usually 19; 19 the day before
23 in 10017 in 1007 Dec14 Dec21 Dec28 Dec5 Jan7 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 10022 Dec: 21 in 10023 Dec: 21 in 10024 Dec: 20 in 10025 Dec: 20 in 10026 Dec: 22 in 10027 Dec: 20 in 10028 Dec: 19 in 10029 Dec: 22 in 10030 Dec: 23 in 10031 Dec: 19 in 1001 Jan: 20 in 1002 Jan: 18 in 1003 Jan: 18 in 1004 Jan: 19 in 1005 Jan: 19 in 100 · this day

Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 5 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 19,547 stories about harm among 102,773 counted on 5 Jan.

Read the day's briefing

It was the second day running that the news turned to Thailand. of the day's 102,773 news stories, 19 in every 100 were about people being harmed, as usual. Thailand stood out: 64% of its news was about people being harmed, usually 29%. On 5 January 2018, a year earlier, the share was 22 in every 100, against 19 today.

Written by code from the day's numbers.

Where it happened

feelings in full →
Feelings Events Harm Warmth
Glamorgan, UK -- accidents & disasters: 28 stories, carried by 47 outlets; harsh wording in 82 in 100Munich, Germany -- accidents & disasters: 52 stories, carried by 53 outlets; harsh wording in 46 in 100Darfur, Sudan -- protests & strikes: 13 stories, carried by 26 outlets; harsh wording in 92 in 100Budapest, Hungary -- protests & strikes: 27 stories, carried by 27 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Tehran, Iran -- protests & strikes: 51 stories, carried by 38 outlets; harsh wording in 98 in 100Gloucestershire, UK -- deaths, cause not given: 15 stories, carried by 31 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Himachal Pradesh, India -- deaths, cause not given: 32 stories, carried by 35 outlets; harsh wording in 97 in 100Marib, Yemen -- attacks & violence: 23 stories, carried by 36 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Khartoum, Sudan -- protests & strikes: 48 stories, carried by 41 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Beijing, China -- attacks & violence: 122 stories, carried by 111 outlets; harsh wording in 87 in 100Milan, Italy -- deaths, cause not given: 56 stories, carried by 51 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Sabarimala, India -- protests & strikes: 95 stories, carried by 66 outlets; harsh wording in 99 in 100Barcelona, Spain -- accidents & disasters: 85 stories, carried by 79 outlets; harsh wording in 98 in 100Sanaa, Yemen -- attacks & violence: 73 stories, carried by 76 outlets; harsh wording in 99 in 100Kabul, Afghanistan -- attacks & violence: 79 stories, carried by 91 outlets; harsh wording in 94 in 100Peshawar, Pakistan -- attacks & violence: 91 stories, carried by 84 outlets; harsh wording in 98 in 100Bangkok, Thailand -- accidents & disasters: 86 stories, carried by 92 outlets; harsh wording in 98 in 100Salzburg, Austria -- accidents & disasters: 55 stories, carried by 92 outlets; harsh wording in 96 in 100San Francisco, US -- accidents & disasters: 188 stories, carried by 199 outlets; harsh wording in 89 in 100Moscow, Russia -- attacks & violence: 177 stories, carried by 239 outlets; harsh wording in 98 in 100Boulder, US -- deaths, cause not given: 167 stories, carried by 176 outlets; harsh wording in 96 in 100Nakhon Si Thammarat, Thailand -- accidents & disasters: 142 stories, carried by 152 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Enkoping, Sweden -- disease & outbreaks: 96 stories, carried by 180 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Paris, France -- protests & strikes: 270 stories, carried by 236 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 harsher 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.