← 4 Dec Thursday 5 December 2019 · to 23:59 UTC 6 Dec →
What the world's news said happened to people.
Counts of coverage, not of suffering
20,378 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 →

Drownings in Mauritania, illness in Apia and protests in Tehran (Iran) drew the news. Samoa's coverage was about three times as grief-stricken 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 mostMauritania 94 in 100 of its 80 stories, usually 28
RegionSub-Saharan Africa 28 in 100 of its stories, usually 25
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 →
Disasters & accidents

Mauritania

75 of its 80 stories (94%) were about people being harmed, usually 28%. Nouadhibou accounted for 56 of Mauritania's 75 stories about harm, carried by 209 outlets. Reports of people killed ran at more than ten times the usual rate (71 stories). Drownings were named in 33 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual.

Health

Samoa

109 of its 127 stories (86%) were about people being harmed, usually 71%. Apia accounted for 50 of Samoa's 109 stories about harm, carried by 194 outlets. Its coverage was about three times as grief-stricken as the world's.

6 more places the news pointed at
Disasters & accidents

Burundi

24 of its 28 stories (86%) were about people being harmed, usually 44%. Reports of people injured ran at about 5 times the usual rate (10 stories). Landslides were named in 15 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual, with heavy rain. Its coverage was about one and a half times as grief-stricken as the world's.

Disasters & accidents

Poland

42 of its 149 stories (28%) were about people being harmed, usually 18%. Reports of people affected ran at about three times the usual rate (9 stories). Gas explosion was named in 23 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual.

Disasters & accidents

Sudan

74 of its 121 stories (61%) were about people being harmed, usually 53%. Khartoum accounted for 42 of Sudan's 74 stories about harm, carried by 42 outlets. Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's. Fear in its coverage rose to about one and a half times its own usual.

Protests & strikes

Iraq

21 of Baghdad's 30 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of arrests ran at about twice the usual rate (10 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as angry as the world's.

Disasters & accidents

Gambia

34 of its 61 stories (56%) were about people being harmed, usually 32%. Reports of people killed ran at about 5 times the usual rate (19 stories).

Health

Denmark

35 of its 136 stories (26%) were about people being harmed, usually 18%. Its coverage was about one and a half times as fearful as the world's.

Also named far more than usual: gas explosion in Poland (23 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); landslides in Burundi (15 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); hypothermia in Spain (19 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); landslides in Uganda (12 of its stories, about 6 times its usual); flooding in Malaysia (16 of its stories, about three times its usual).

17 in 100 stories were about harm

usually 17; 16 the day before
21 in 10016 in 1006 Nov13 Nov20 Nov27 Nov5 Dec6 Nov: 16 in 1007 Nov: 16 in 1008 Nov: 16 in 1009 Nov: 17 in 10010 Nov: 18 in 10011 Nov: 17 in 10012 Nov: 17 in 10013 Nov: 17 in 10014 Nov: 17 in 10015 Nov: 17 in 10016 Nov: 18 in 10017 Nov: 18 in 10018 Nov: 17 in 10019 Nov: 17 in 10020 Nov: 16 in 10021 Nov: 16 in 10022 Nov: 16 in 10023 Nov: 17 in 10024 Nov: 19 in 10025 Nov: 17 in 10026 Nov: 18 in 10027 Nov: 18 in 10028 Nov: 18 in 10029 Nov: 17 in 10030 Nov: 20 in 1001 Dec: 21 in 1002 Dec: 18 in 1003 Dec: 17 in 1004 Dec: 16 in 1005 Dec: 17 in 100 · this day

Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 5 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 20,378 stories about harm among 122,472 counted on 5 Dec.

Read the day's briefing

In Mauritania, 94% of the news was about people being harmed, where 28% is usual. Stories about people being harmed made up 17 in every 100 of the day's 122,472 stories, as usual. Mentions of drownings ran more than ten times their usual in Mauritania's news. On 5 December 2018, a year earlier, the share was 18 in every 100, against 17 today.

Written by code from the day's numbers.

Where it happened

feelings in full →
Feelings Events Harm Warmth
Baghdad, Iraq -- protests & strikes: 30 stories, carried by 41 outlets; harsh wording in 97 in 100Berlin, Germany -- attacks & violence: 45 stories, carried by 73 outlets; harsh wording in 91 in 100Madrid, Spain -- accidents & disasters: 53 stories, carried by 81 outlets; harsh wording in 77 in 100North Waziristan, Pakistan -- attacks & violence: 8 stories, carried by 29 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Mexico City, Mexico -- attacks & violence: 15 stories, carried by 61 outlets; harsh wording in 93 in 100Santiago, Chile -- protests & strikes: 26 stories, carried by 33 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Bogota, Colombia -- protests & strikes: 19 stories, carried by 35 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Folkestone, UK -- protests & strikes: 9 stories, carried by 56 outlets; harsh wording in 89 in 100Coahuila, Mexico -- attacks & violence: 6 stories, carried by 43 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Tirana, Albania -- accidents & disasters: 15 stories, carried by 49 outlets; harsh wording in 80 in 100Tokyo, Japan -- accidents & disasters: 62 stories, carried by 113 outlets; harsh wording in 92 in 100Kabul, Afghanistan -- attacks & violence: 47 stories, carried by 78 outlets; harsh wording in 85 in 100Ankara, Türkiye -- attacks & violence: 49 stories, carried by 72 outlets; harsh wording in 86 in 100Szczyrk, Poland -- accidents & disasters: 25 stories, carried by 58 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Moscow, Russia -- attacks & violence: 83 stories, carried by 115 outlets; harsh wording in 94 in 100Manila, Philippines -- accidents & disasters: 49 stories, carried by 160 outlets; harsh wording in 84 in 100Rukombe, Burundi -- accidents & disasters: 5 stories, carried by 65 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100New Plymouth, New Zealand -- attacks & violence: 10 stories, carried by 100 outlets; harsh wording in 90 in 100Sydney, Australia -- accidents & disasters: 147 stories, carried by 184 outlets; harsh wording in 87 in 100Tehran, Iran -- protests & strikes: 113 stories, carried by 146 outlets; harsh wording in 99 in 100Charleston, US -- accidents & disasters: 11 stories, carried by 229 outlets; harsh wording in 82 in 100Nouadhibou, Mauritania -- accidents & disasters: 56 stories, carried by 209 outlets; harsh wording in 84 in 100Paris, France -- protests & strikes: 155 stories, carried by 479 outlets; harsh wording in 92 in 100Pearl Harbor, US -- attacks & violence: 397 stories, carried by 1,318 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
● 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?

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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.