← 28 Dec Sunday 29 December 2019 · to 23:59 UTC 30 Dec →
What the world's news said happened to people.
Counts of coverage, not of suffering
10,290 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 hunger in Somalia, protests in Kiev (Ukraine) and drownings in Fiji drew the news. Somalia's coverage was about three times as grief-stricken as the world's. Across the world, the tone of the words was much harsher than usual.

Reports of people injured ran at about twice the usual rate, most often about the US and Somalia → Reports of evacuations ran at about three times the usual rate, most often about Fiji and Syria → Help and hope: reports of volunteers ran at about twice the usual rate →
Part of lifeRights & justice 27 in 100 of the stories about harm · less than usual Country that rose mostUkraine 52 in 100 of its 279 stories, usually 10
RegionCentral Asia 53 in 100 of its stories, usually 26
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 →
Conflict & violence

Somalia

170 of its 181 stories (94%) were about people being harmed, usually 63%. Mogadishu accounted for 162 of Somalia's 170 stories about harm, carried by 324 outlets. Reports of evacuations ran at about 9 times the usual rate (13 stories). Hunger was named in 26 of its stories about harm, about three times usual. Its coverage was about three times as grief-stricken as the world's. Fear in its coverage rose to about one and a half times its own usual.

Protests & strikes

Ukraine

145 of its 279 stories (52%) were about people being harmed, usually 10%. 44 of Kiev's 73 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of arrests ran at more than ten times the usual rate (118 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as angry as the world's.

Disasters & accidents

Fiji

56 of its 74 stories (76%) were about people being harmed, usually 32%. Reports of evacuations ran at about 7 times the usual rate (29 stories). Drownings were named in 13 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual.

6 more places the news pointed at
Conflict & violence

Syria

114 of its 139 stories (82%) were about people being harmed, usually 62%. Idlib accounted for 92 of Syria's 114 stories about harm, carried by 85 outlets. Reports of evacuations ran at more than ten times the usual rate (29 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as angry as the world's.

Rights & justice

Netherlands

32 of its 82 stories (39%) were about people being harmed, usually 17%. Reports of people killed ran at about three times the usual rate (16 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as angry as the world's.

Deaths & injuries, cause not given

Egypt

74 of its 200 stories (37%) were about people being harmed, usually 20%. Reports of people injured ran at more than ten times the usual rate (51 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as grief-stricken as the world's.

Disasters & accidents

Australia

468 of its 1,346 stories (35%) were about people being harmed, usually 23%. Reports of evacuations ran at about three times the usual rate (14 stories). Storms were named in 70 of its stories about harm, about 4 times usual.

Conflict & violence

Russia

101 of its 403 stories (25%) were about people being harmed, usually 16%. Reports of arrests ran at about 4 times the usual rate (36 stories). Its coverage was about three times as fearful as the world's.

Protests & strikes

Morocco

13 of its 36 stories (36%) were about people being harmed, usually 22%. 6 of Rabat's 6 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of arrests ran at about twice the usual rate (5 stories).

Also named far more than usual: illness in Papua New Guinea (19 of its stories, about 4 times its usual); avalanche in Italy (21 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); drownings in Spain (19 of its stories, about 7 times its usual); extreme cold in Bangladesh (19 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); tsunami in Puerto Rico (11 of its stories, about 9 times its usual).

22 in 100 stories were about harm

usually 18; 21 the day before
22 in 10016 in 10030 Nov7 Dec14 Dec21 Dec29 Dec30 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 10021 Dec: 19 in 10022 Dec: 20 in 10023 Dec: 19 in 10024 Dec: 18 in 10025 Dec: 19 in 10026 Dec: 19 in 10027 Dec: 20 in 10028 Dec: 21 in 10029 Dec: 22 in 100 · this day

Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 29 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 10,290 stories about harm among 47,606 counted on 29 Dec.

Read the day's briefing

No day had a higher share of stories about people being harmed since 21 September 2019. Stories about people being harmed made up 22 in every 100 of the day's 47,606 stories, above the usual 18. Mentions of the avalanche ran more than ten times their usual in Italy's news. On the side of help, reports of volunteers ran at about twice the usual rate. Reports of people injured ran at about twice the usual rate, most often about the US and Somalia. This week the news turned most often to Fiji, on 3 of 7 days; help rose on 5 of them.

Written by code from the day's numbers.

Where it happened

feelings in full →
Feelings Events Harm Warmth
Tokyo, Japan -- accidents & disasters: 35 stories, carried by 42 outlets; harsh wording in 91 in 100Paris, France -- protests & strikes: 38 stories, carried by 52 outlets; harsh wording in 87 in 100Sanaa, Yemen -- deaths, cause not given: 39 stories, carried by 62 outlets; harsh wording in 97 in 100Jerusalem, Israel -- attacks & violence: 51 stories, carried by 61 outlets; harsh wording in 90 in 100Baghdad, Iraq -- protests & strikes: 35 stories, carried by 48 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Hyderabad, India -- protests & strikes: 19 stories, carried by 70 outlets; harsh wording in 95 in 100Visayas, Philippines -- accidents & disasters: 15 stories, carried by 53 outlets; harsh wording in 93 in 100Mapfumo, Zimbabwe -- protests & strikes: 7 stories, carried by 37 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Taj Mahal, India -- protests & strikes: 17 stories, carried by 47 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Idlib, Syria -- attacks & violence: 92 stories, carried by 85 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Kiev, Ukraine -- protests & strikes: 73 stories, carried by 123 outlets; harsh wording in 97 in 100Gippsland, Australia -- accidents & disasters: 47 stories, carried by 81 outlets; harsh wording in 98 in 100Luhansk, Ukraine -- attacks & violence: 14 stories, carried by 153 outlets; harsh wording in 93 in 100Kremlin, Russia -- attacks & violence: 49 stories, carried by 185 outlets; harsh wording in 82 in 100Tehran, Iran -- attacks & violence: 56 stories, carried by 339 outlets; harsh wording in 96 in 100Costa del Sol, Spain -- accidents & disasters: 17 stories, carried by 165 outlets; harsh wording in 94 in 100Niigata, Japan -- accidents & disasters: 20 stories, carried by 149 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Bolzano, Italy -- accidents & disasters: 7 stories, carried by 156 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Kunduz, Afghanistan -- attacks & violence: 14 stories, carried by 264 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Sydney, Australia -- accidents & disasters: 146 stories, carried by 390 outlets; harsh wording in 88 in 100Mogadishu, Somalia -- attacks & violence: 162 stories, carried by 324 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Kirkuk, Iraq -- attacks & violence: 96 stories, carried by 296 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Fort Worth, US -- attacks & violence: 181 stories, carried by 720 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Ramapo, US -- attacks & violence: 266 stories, carried by 1,050 outlets; harsh wording in 96 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.

● Angera little more than 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?

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.