← 12 Jan Sunday 13 January 2019 · to 23:59 UTC 14 Jan →
What the world's news said happened to people.
Counts of coverage, not of suffering
17,275 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 storms in Iceland, gas explosion in France and evacuations in China. China's coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's. Across the world, the tone of the words was much harsher than usual.

Reports of evacuations ran at about twice the usual rate, most often about France and China → Help and hope: reports of people freed or reunited ran at about one and a half times the usual rate →
Part of lifeRights & justice 29 in 100 of the stories about harm · about as usual Country that rose mostIceland 75 in 100 of its 95 stories, usually 35
RegionEast Asia 23 in 100 of its stories, usually 15
Tone of the words Much harsher than usual across the world's stories about harm

What the world's news was about today

how these are picked →
Disasters & accidents

Iceland

71 of its 95 stories (75%) were about people being harmed, usually 35%. Akureyri accounted for 65 of Iceland's 71 stories about harm, carried by 79 outlets. Reports of people killed ran at about three times the usual rate (68 stories). Storms were named in 53 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual, with earthquake.

Displacement

France

596 of its 1,146 stories (52%) were about people being harmed, usually 29%. Paris accounted for 523 of France's 596 stories about harm, carried by 438 outlets. Reports of evacuations ran at more than ten times the usual rate (199 stories). Gas explosion was named in 103 of its stories about harm, about 7 times usual, with avalanche.

Deaths & injuries, cause not given

China

483 of its 1,678 stories (29%) were about people being harmed, usually 14%. Reports of evacuations ran at more than ten times the usual rate (26 stories). Accidents were named in 12 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual. Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's.

Conflict & violence

Syria

267 of its 424 stories (63%) were about people being harmed, usually 55%. Damascus accounted for 159 of Syria's 267 stories about harm, carried by 170 outlets. Reports of evacuations ran at about 8 times the usual rate (7 stories). Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's.

6 more places the news pointed at
Protests & strikes

Venezuela

103 of its 250 stories (41%) were about people being harmed, usually 35%. Caracas accounted for 82 of Venezuela's 103 stories about harm, carried by 146 outlets. 52 of Caracas' 82 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of people displaced ran at more than ten times the usual rate (8 stories).

Disasters & accidents

Austria

110 of its 244 stories (45%) were about people being harmed, usually 15%. Reports of people affected ran at about 10 times the usual rate (92 stories). Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's.

Conflict & violence

Italy

295 of its 762 stories (39%) were about people being harmed, usually 19%. Reports of people killed ran at about twice the usual rate (107 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as grief-stricken as the world's. Anger in its coverage rose to about twice its own usual.

Deaths & injuries, cause not given

Sweden

66 of its 133 stories (50%) were about people being harmed, usually 25%. Reports of people killed ran at about 7 times the usual rate (63 stories). Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's.

Rights & justice

Finland

26 of its 73 stories (36%) were about people being harmed, usually 14%. Reports of refugees ran at more than ten times the usual rate (10 stories). Anger in its coverage rose to about one and a half times its own usual.

Disasters & accidents

Switzerland

39 of its 138 stories (28%) were about people being harmed, usually 15%. Reports of evacuations ran at more than ten times the usual rate (18 stories). House fires were named in 20 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual.

Also named far more than usual: norovirus in Jamaica (26 of its stories, about three times its usual); house fires in Switzerland (20 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); hiv in Indonesia (14 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); avalanche in Germany (28 of its stories, about three times its usual); tsunami in Russia (16 of its stories, about 9 times its usual).

19 in 100 stories were about harm

usually 19; 20 the day before
23 in 10017 in 10015 Dec22 Dec29 Dec5 Jan13 Jan15 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 1006 Jan: 19 in 1007 Jan: 18 in 1008 Jan: 18 in 1009 Jan: 18 in 10010 Jan: 17 in 10011 Jan: 19 in 10012 Jan: 20 in 10013 Jan: 19 in 100 · this day

Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 13 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 17,275 stories about harm among 92,996 counted on 13 Jan.

Read the day's briefing

Iceland's news mentioned storms more than ten times as often as usual. 19 in every 100 of the day's 92,996 news stories were about people being harmed, as usual. On the side of help, reports of people freed or reunited ran at about one and a half times the usual rate. Evacuations were reported at about twice the usual rate, most often about France and China. Iceland's news was 75% about people being harmed, against a usual 35%.

Written by code from the day's numbers.

Where it happened

feelings in full →
Feelings Events Harm Warmth
Northern Ireland, UK -- accidents & disasters: 62 stories, carried by 79 outlets; harsh wording in 95 in 100Dhaka, Bangladesh -- protests & strikes: 82 stories, carried by 46 outlets; harsh wording in 93 in 100Sanaa, Yemen -- attacks & violence: 48 stories, carried by 44 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Harare, Zimbabwe -- protests & strikes: 114 stories, carried by 80 outlets; harsh wording in 99 in 100Kulgam, Kashmir -- attacks & violence: 71 stories, carried by 45 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Khartoum, Sudan -- protests & strikes: 83 stories, carried by 77 outlets; harsh wording in 99 in 100Kiruna, Sweden -- deaths, cause not given: 50 stories, carried by 52 outlets; harsh wording in 98 in 100Herat, Afghanistan -- attacks & violence: 37 stories, carried by 49 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Baghdad, Iraq -- protests & strikes: 40 stories, carried by 99 outlets; harsh wording in 92 in 100Johannesburg, South Africa -- protests & strikes: 70 stories, carried by 67 outlets; harsh wording in 99 in 100Riesa, Germany -- people displaced: 12 stories, carried by 97 outlets; harsh wording in 92 in 100Berlin, Germany -- attacks & violence: 74 stories, carried by 70 outlets; harsh wording in 99 in 100Akureyri, Iceland -- accidents & disasters: 65 stories, carried by 79 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Caracas, Venezuela -- protests & strikes: 82 stories, carried by 146 outlets; harsh wording in 96 in 100Guayaquil, Ecuador -- accidents & disasters: 8 stories, carried by 92 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Vorarlberg, Austria -- accidents & disasters: 64 stories, carried by 96 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Riyadh, Saudi Arabia -- attacks & violence: 163 stories, carried by 163 outlets; harsh wording in 99 in 100California, US -- accidents & disasters: 177 stories, carried by 270 outlets; harsh wording in 89 in 100Toronto, Canada -- protests & strikes: 160 stories, carried by 219 outlets; harsh wording in 92 in 100Tehran, Iran -- protests & strikes: 167 stories, carried by 200 outlets; harsh wording in 98 in 100Damascus, Syria -- attacks & violence: 159 stories, carried by 170 outlets; harsh wording in 97 in 100Paris, France -- people displaced: 523 stories, carried by 438 outlets; harsh wording in 99 in 100Jerusalem, Israel -- attacks & violence: 236 stories, carried by 301 outlets; harsh wording in 92 in 100Yolo County, US -- attacks & violence: 299 stories, carried by 340 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 harsher than usual. Filled dot: today. Ring: usual.

● Angerabout as usual
● Warmthabout as usual
● Griefa little more 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.