← 30 Dec Tuesday 31 December 2019 · to 23:59 UTC 1 Jan →
What the world's news said happened to people.
Counts of coverage, not of suffering
16,667 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 protests in Ayia Napa (Cyprus), violence in Mogadishu and people killed in Romania. Somalia's coverage was about twice as angry as the world's. Taken together, the world's news read about as usual.

Help and hope: reports of people freed or reunited ran at about twice the usual rate →
Part of lifeRights & justice 28 in 100 of the stories about harm · less than usual Country that rose mostCyprus 75 in 100 of its 81 stories, usually 25
RegionOceania 41 in 100 of its stories, usually 27
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

Cyprus

61 of its 81 stories (75%) were about people being harmed, usually 25%. Ayia Napa accounted for 50 of Cyprus' 61 stories about harm, carried by 175 outlets. 26 of Ayia Napa's 50 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of arrests ran at about three times the usual rate (31 stories). Its coverage was about twice as fearful as the world's.

Conflict & violence

Somalia

105 of its 120 stories (88%) were about people being harmed, usually 69%. Mogadishu accounted for 92 of Somalia's 105 stories about harm, carried by 191 outlets. Reports of evacuations ran at about twice the usual rate (6 stories). Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's. Fear in its coverage rose to about one and a half times its own usual.

Health

Romania

28 of its 54 stories (52%) were about people being harmed, usually 14%. Reports of people killed ran at about 4 times the usual rate (18 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as grief-stricken as the world's.

Disasters & accidents

Australia

870 of its 1,954 stories (45%) were about people being harmed, usually 24%. Reports of people affected ran at about 4 times the usual rate (245 stories). Tornadoes were named in 102 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual, with power cuts.

6 more places the news pointed at
Protests & strikes

Iraq

634 of its 819 stories (77%) were about people being harmed, usually 62%. Baghdad accounted for 517 of Iraq's 634 stories about harm, carried by 1,350 outlets. 456 of Baghdad's 517 stories were about protests or strikes. Its coverage was about three times as angry as the world's.

Protests & strikes

Sudan

63 of its 86 stories (73%) were about people being harmed, usually 60%. 20 of Khartoum's 29 stories were about protests or strikes. Poisoning was named in 14 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual. Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's. Anger in its coverage rose to about one and a half times its own usual.

Protests & strikes

Hong Kong

85 of its 177 stories (48%) were about people being harmed, usually 38%. Victoria Harbour accounted for 63 of Hong Kong's 85 stories about harm, carried by 96 outlets. 61 of Victoria Harbour's 63 stories were about protests or strikes. Its coverage was about one and a half times as angry as the world's.

Protests & strikes

Iran

124 of its 251 stories (49%) were about people being harmed, usually 42%. 46 of Tehran's 82 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of abductions ran at about 8 times the usual rate (6 stories). Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's.

Protests & strikes

Nicaragua

11 of its 14 stories (79%) were about people being harmed, usually 31%. 5 of Managua's 5 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of arrests ran at about twice the usual rate (10 stories).

Conflict & violence

Libya

39 of its 74 stories (53%) were about people being harmed, usually 37%. Tripoli accounted for 36 of Libya's 39 stories about harm, carried by 191 outlets. Hunger was named in 15 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual, with tuberculosis.

Also named far more than usual: cyclone in Tonga (16 of its stories, about 5 times its usual); measles in New Zealand (26 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); hunger in Libya (15 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); poisoning in Sudan (14 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); road crashes in Uganda (11 of its stories, more than ten times its usual).

20 in 100 stories were about harm

usually 18; 21 the day before
22 in 10016 in 1002 Dec9 Dec16 Dec23 Dec31 Dec2 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 10030 Dec: 21 in 10031 Dec: 20 in 100 · this day

Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 31 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 16,667 stories about harm among 82,211 counted on 31 Dec.

Read the day's briefing

Help and hope: reports of people freed or reunited ran at about twice the usual rate. In Cyprus, 75% of the news was about people being harmed, where 25% is usual. the news turned to Cyprus for the second day running. 20 in every 100 of the day's 82,211 news stories were about people being harmed, above the usual 18.

Written by code from the day's numbers.

Where it happened

feelings in full →
Feelings Events Harm Warmth
Nablus, Palestine -- attacks & violence: 15 stories, carried by 30 outlets; harsh wording in 93 in 100Dunblane, UK -- attacks & violence: 23 stories, carried by 110 outlets; harsh wording in 65 in 100Khartoum, Sudan -- protests & strikes: 29 stories, carried by 37 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Kabul, Afghanistan -- attacks & violence: 51 stories, carried by 57 outlets; harsh wording in 94 in 100Petersburg, Russia -- attacks & violence: 43 stories, carried by 48 outlets; harsh wording in 88 in 100Idlib, Syria -- people displaced: 30 stories, carried by 85 outlets; harsh wording in 93 in 100Srebrenica, Bosnia -- attacks & violence: 9 stories, carried by 42 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Bangalore, India -- deaths, cause not given: 21 stories, carried by 97 outlets; harsh wording in 95 in 100North Island, New Zealand -- protests & strikes: 8 stories, carried by 92 outlets; harsh wording in 88 in 100Tehran, Iran -- protests & strikes: 82 stories, carried by 108 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Moscow, Russia -- attacks & violence: 70 stories, carried by 190 outlets; harsh wording in 77 in 100Kirkuk, Iraq -- protests & strikes: 58 stories, carried by 166 outlets; harsh wording in 95 in 100Tripoli, Libya -- attacks & violence: 36 stories, carried by 191 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Ayia Napa, Cyprus -- protests & strikes: 50 stories, carried by 175 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Victoria Harbour, Hong Kong -- protests & strikes: 63 stories, carried by 96 outlets; harsh wording in 98 in 100South Island, New Zealand -- disease & outbreaks: 22 stories, carried by 150 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Wuhan, China -- disease & outbreaks: 37 stories, carried by 193 outlets; harsh wording in 95 in 100Mogadishu, Somalia -- attacks & violence: 92 stories, carried by 191 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Yangchun, China -- disease & outbreaks: 5 stories, carried by 195 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Sandy Hook, US -- attacks & violence: 57 stories, carried by 391 outlets; harsh wording in 96 in 100Mallacoota, Australia -- accidents & disasters: 151 stories, carried by 370 outlets; harsh wording in 99 in 100Sydney, Australia -- accidents & disasters: 265 stories, carried by 572 outlets; harsh wording in 91 in 100White Settlement, US -- attacks & violence: 208 stories, carried by 766 outlets; harsh wording in 93 in 100Baghdad, Iraq -- protests & strikes: 517 stories, carried by 1,350 outlets; harsh wording in 100 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?

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.