← 16 Dec Tuesday 17 December 2019 · to 23:59 UTC 18 Dec →
What the world's news said happened to people.
Counts of coverage, not of suffering
19,997 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 →

Protests in Beirut (Lebanon), violence in Ankara and people affected in Ethiopia drew the news. Türkiye's coverage was about twice as fearful as the world's. Taken together, the world's news read about as usual.

Part of lifeRights & justice 32 in 100 of the stories about harm · about as usual Country that rose mostEthiopia 59 in 100 of its 167 stories, usually 36
RegionCentral Asia 20 in 100 of its stories, usually 13
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 →
Protests & strikes

Lebanon

75 of its 174 stories (43%) were about people being harmed, usually 28%. Beirut accounted for 58 of Lebanon's 75 stories about harm, carried by 122 outlets. 52 of Beirut's 58 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of people injured ran at about twice the usual rate (28 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as angry as the world's.

Conflict & violence

Türkiye

186 of its 446 stories (42%) were about people being harmed, usually 26%. Ankara accounted for 84 of Türkiye's 186 stories about harm, carried by 107 outlets. Reports of refugees ran at about three times the usual rate (37 stories). Its coverage was about twice as fearful as the world's. Grief in its coverage rose to about one and a half times its own usual.

6 more places the news pointed at
Protests & strikes

India

1,795 of its 6,176 stories (29%) were about people being harmed, usually 22%. 613 of Delhi's 798 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of refugees ran at about three times the usual rate (56 stories). Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's.

Conflict & violence

Afghanistan

Kabul accounted for 60 of Afghanistan's 172 stories about harm, carried by 188 outlets. Reports of people affected ran at about three times the usual rate (27 stories). Drought was named in 19 of its stories about harm, about 8 times usual. Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's.

Protests & strikes

Cuba

21 of its 68 stories (31%) were about people being harmed, usually 19%. Havana accounted for 19 of Cuba's 21 stories about harm, carried by 32 outlets. 10 of Havana's 19 stories were about protests or strikes.

Conflict & violence

Syria

Reports of abductions ran at more than ten times the usual rate (36 stories). Measles was named in 10 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual. Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's.

Protests & strikes

Iraq

Baghdad accounted for 36 of Iraq's 55 stories about harm, carried by 144 outlets. 19 of Baghdad's 36 stories were about protests or strikes. Its coverage was about one and a half times as angry as the world's.

Food & livelihood

Argentina

32 of its 110 stories (29%) were about people being harmed, usually 17%. Reports of arrests ran at about three times the usual rate (5 stories).

Also named far more than usual: illness in Italy (35 of its stories, about 4 times its usual); earthquake in Dominican Republic (14 of its stories, about 4 times its usual); heatwave in Australia (76 of its stories, about 4 times its usual); drought in Afghanistan (19 of its stories, about 8 times its usual); heavy rain in Malaysia (15 of its stories, about three times its usual).

17 in 100 stories were about harm

usually 18; 17 the day before
21 in 10016 in 10018 Nov25 Nov2 Dec9 Dec17 Dec18 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 1006 Dec: 18 in 1007 Dec: 20 in 1008 Dec: 19 in 1009 Dec: 18 in 10010 Dec: 18 in 10011 Dec: 18 in 10012 Dec: 17 in 10013 Dec: 16 in 10014 Dec: 18 in 10015 Dec: 19 in 10016 Dec: 17 in 10017 Dec: 17 in 100 · this day

Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 17 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 19,997 stories about harm among 115,023 counted on 17 Dec.

Read the day's briefing

For the third day running, the news turned to Lebanon. Stories about people being harmed made up 17 in every 100 of the day's 115,023 stories, as usual. Mentions of the earthquake ran about 4 times their usual in the Dominican Republic's news. In Lebanon, 43% of the news was about people being harmed, where 28% is usual. A year earlier, on 17 December 2018, 18 in every 100 stories were about people being harmed, against 17 today.

Written by code from the day's numbers.

Where it happened

feelings in full →
Feelings Events Harm Warmth
White Island, Australia -- accidents & disasters: 13 stories, carried by 26 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Geneva, Switzerland -- people displaced: 51 stories, carried by 54 outlets; harsh wording in 84 in 100Islamabad, Pakistan -- attacks & violence: 73 stories, carried by 83 outlets; harsh wording in 88 in 100Molise, Italy -- disease & outbreaks: 21 stories, carried by 46 outlets; harsh wording in 67 in 100Guizhou, China -- accidents & disasters: 21 stories, carried by 46 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Khost, Afghanistan -- attacks & violence: 15 stories, carried by 31 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Northern Ireland, UK -- accidents & disasters: 84 stories, carried by 91 outlets; harsh wording in 90 in 100Vancouver, Canada -- accidents & disasters: 48 stories, carried by 81 outlets; harsh wording in 92 in 100Syltholm, Denmark -- disease & outbreaks: 26 stories, carried by 62 outlets; harsh wording in 62 in 100Tehran, Iran -- protests & strikes: 37 stories, carried by 79 outlets; harsh wording in 92 in 100Kolkata, India -- protests & strikes: 75 stories, carried by 64 outlets; harsh wording in 93 in 100Ankara, Türkiye -- attacks & violence: 84 stories, carried by 107 outlets; harsh wording in 99 in 100Idlib, Syria -- attacks & violence: 42 stories, carried by 91 outlets; harsh wording in 98 in 100Paris, France -- protests & strikes: 117 stories, carried by 160 outlets; harsh wording in 90 in 100Baghdad, Iraq -- protests & strikes: 36 stories, carried by 144 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Hong Kong Island, Hong Kong -- protests & strikes: 23 stories, carried by 108 outlets; harsh wording in 96 in 100White Island, New Zealand -- accidents & disasters: 74 stories, carried by 99 outlets; harsh wording in 92 in 100Beirut, Lebanon -- protests & strikes: 58 stories, carried by 122 outlets; harsh wording in 98 in 100Sydney, Australia -- accidents & disasters: 184 stories, carried by 280 outlets; harsh wording in 93 in 100Bastogne, Belgium -- attacks & violence: 17 stories, carried by 133 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Kabul, Afghanistan -- attacks & violence: 60 stories, carried by 188 outlets; harsh wording in 85 in 100Lake Charles, US -- accidents & disasters: 15 stories, carried by 204 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Delhi, India -- protests & strikes: 798 stories, carried by 381 outlets; harsh wording in 97 in 100Seattle, US -- deaths, cause not given: 114 stories, carried by 797 outlets; harsh wording in 94 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.