← 19 Dec Friday 20 December 2019 · to 23:59 UTC 21 Dec →
What the world's news said happened to people.
Counts of coverage, not of suffering
19,441 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 illness in Kivu, refugees in Venezuela and protests in Delhi (India). India's coverage was about twice as angry as the world's. In the world's news as a whole, the wording was softer than usual.

Help and hope: reports of volunteers ran at about twice the usual rate →
Part of lifeRights & justice 33 in 100 of the stories about harm · about as usual Country that rose mostDR Congo 82 in 100 of its 56 stories, usually 60
RegionCentral Asia 20 in 100 of its stories, usually 14
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 →
Health

DR Congo

46 of its 56 stories (82%) were about people being harmed, usually 60%. Kivu accounted for 16 of the DR Congo's 46 stories about harm, carried by 37 outlets. Reports of people falling ill ran at more than ten times the usual rate (17 stories). Haemorrhagic fever was named in 17 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual.

Displacement

Venezuela

32 of its 74 stories (43%) were about people being harmed, usually 26%. Reports of refugees ran at about 4 times the usual rate (14 stories). Hunger was named in 13 of its stories about harm, about 8 times usual. Its coverage was about one and a half times as fearful as the world's.

Protests & strikes

India

1,874 of its 5,922 stories (32%) were about people being harmed, usually 23%. 445 of Delhi's 596 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of people injured ran at about twice the usual rate (284 stories). Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's.

Conflict & violence

Philippines

209 of its 606 stories (34%) were about people being harmed, usually 25%. Reports of arrests ran at about twice the usual rate (40 stories). Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's.

6 more places the news pointed at
Disasters & accidents

Australia

704 of its 2,335 stories (30%) were about people being harmed, usually 21%. Reports of people injured ran at about 5 times the usual rate (109 stories). Heatwave was named in 117 of its stories about harm, about three times usual, with road crashes.

Conflict & violence

Pakistan

257 of its 795 stories (32%) were about people being harmed, usually 27%. HIV was named in 11 of its stories about harm, about three times usual. Its coverage was about one and a half times as fearful as the world's.

Conflict & violence

Guinea

15 of its 19 stories (79%) were about people being harmed, usually 23%. Reports of people killed ran at about 4 times the usual rate (12 stories).

Rights & justice

Nauru

9 of its 9 stories (100%) were about people being harmed, usually 33%. Reports of arrests ran at about 4 times the usual rate (7 stories).

Conflict & violence

Rwanda

28 of its 51 stories (55%) were about people being harmed, usually 35%. Its coverage was about three times as grief-stricken as the world's.

Health

Zambia

19 of its 49 stories (39%) were about people being harmed, usually 21%. Reports of people killed ran at about three times the usual rate (8 stories).

Also named far more than usual: illness in Congo (22 of its stories, about three times its usual); storms in Mexico (31 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); heatwave in Australia (117 of its stories, about three times its usual); hiv in Zimbabwe (11 of its stories, about 5 times its usual); snowstorms in Canada (27 of its stories, about 5 times its usual).

17 in 100 stories were about harm

usually 18; 17 the day before
21 in 10016 in 10021 Nov28 Nov5 Dec12 Dec20 Dec21 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 10018 Dec: 17 in 10019 Dec: 17 in 10020 Dec: 17 in 100 · this day

Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 20 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 19,441 stories about harm among 111,596 counted on 20 Dec.

Read the day's briefing

On the side of help, reports of volunteers ran at about twice the usual rate. Stories about people being harmed made up 17 in every 100 of the day's 111,596 stories, as usual. Mentions of haemorrhagic fever ran more than ten times their usual in the DR Congo's news. In the DR Congo, 82% of the news was about people being harmed, where 60% is usual. On 20 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
Berlin, Germany -- attacks & violence: 40 stories, carried by 53 outlets; harsh wording in 85 in 100Ankara, Türkiye -- attacks & violence: 21 stories, carried by 21 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Lahore, Pakistan -- protests & strikes: 45 stories, carried by 40 outlets; harsh wording in 96 in 100Saskatchewan, Canada -- accidents & disasters: 20 stories, carried by 82 outlets; harsh wording in 75 in 100Okanagan, Canada -- accidents & disasters: 20 stories, carried by 41 outlets; harsh wording in 95 in 100Warsaw, Poland -- protests & strikes: 9 stories, carried by 37 outlets; harsh wording in 89 in 100Balmoral, Australia -- accidents & disasters: 23 stories, carried by 38 outlets; harsh wording in 91 in 100Kabul, Afghanistan -- attacks & violence: 45 stories, carried by 64 outlets; harsh wording in 84 in 100Xinjiang, China -- protests & strikes: 34 stories, carried by 60 outlets; harsh wording in 94 in 100Kivu, DR Congo -- disease & outbreaks: 16 stories, carried by 37 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Tehran, Iran -- protests & strikes: 45 stories, carried by 70 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Jerusalem, Israel -- attacks & violence: 85 stories, carried by 110 outlets; harsh wording in 88 in 100Tripoli, Libya -- attacks & violence: 39 stories, carried by 60 outlets; harsh wording in 97 in 100Sussex, UK -- accidents & disasters: 27 stories, carried by 77 outlets; harsh wording in 93 in 100Lucknow, India -- protests & strikes: 151 stories, carried by 99 outlets; harsh wording in 99 in 100Idlib, Syria -- attacks & violence: 62 stories, carried by 92 outlets; harsh wording in 90 in 100Cardinham, UK -- accidents & disasters: 9 stories, carried by 92 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Oklahoma City, US -- people displaced: 24 stories, carried by 182 outlets; harsh wording in 92 in 100Baghdad, Iraq -- protests & strikes: 32 stories, carried by 96 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Pennsylvania State Police, US -- accidents & disasters: 8 stories, carried by 96 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Beirut, Lebanon -- protests & strikes: 43 stories, carried by 98 outlets; harsh wording in 98 in 100Moscow, Russia -- attacks & violence: 161 stories, carried by 322 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Sydney, Australia -- accidents & disasters: 309 stories, carried by 482 outlets; harsh wording in 93 in 100Delhi, India -- protests & strikes: 596 stories, carried by 607 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.

● 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.