← 1 Jan Thursday 2 January 2020 · to 23:59 UTC 3 Jan →
What the world's news said happened to people.
Counts of coverage, not of suffering
17,379 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 Algiers (Algeria), landslides in Indonesia and rights and justice in Beirut drew the news. Syria's coverage was about twice as angry as the world's. Over the whole world, the tone was harsher than usual.

Reports of evacuations ran at about three times the usual rate, most often about Australia and Indonesia →
Part of lifeRights & justice 29 in 100 of the stories about harm · about as usual Country that rose mostIndonesia 73 in 100 of its 368 stories, usually 29
RegionOceania 42 in 100 of its stories, usually 28
Tone of the words Harsher than usual across the world's stories about harm

What the world's news was about today

how these are picked →
Protests & strikes

Algeria

41 of its 59 stories (69%) were about people being harmed, usually 34%. Algiers accounted for 30 of Algeria's 41 stories about harm, carried by 26 outlets. 28 of Algiers' 30 stories were about protests or strikes. Illness was named in 31 of its stories about harm, about three times usual. Its coverage was about one and a half times as angry as the world's.

Disasters & accidents

Indonesia

268 of its 368 stories (73%) were about people being harmed, usually 29%. Jakarta accounted for 239 of Indonesia's 268 stories about harm, carried by 337 outlets. Reports of people displaced ran at more than ten times the usual rate (60 stories). Landslides were named in 135 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual, with hypothermia, power cuts and storms.

6 more places the news pointed at
Protests & strikes

Iran

145 of its 299 stories (48%) were about people being harmed, usually 42%. 59 of Tehran's 78 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of people injured ran at about twice the usual rate (22 stories). Earthquake was named in 27 of its stories about harm, about 7 times usual. Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's.

Disasters & accidents

Taiwan

181 of its 337 stories (54%) were about people being harmed, usually 15%. Taipei accounted for 154 of Taiwan's 181 stories about harm, carried by 535 outlets. Reports of people affected ran at more than ten times the usual rate (89 stories). Helicopter crash was named in 88 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual.

Disasters & accidents

Australia

1,025 of its 2,213 stories (46%) were about people being harmed, usually 26%. Reports of evacuations ran at more than ten times the usual rate (162 stories). Power cuts were named in 96 of its stories about harm, about 9 times usual.

Protests & strikes

Ethiopia

65 of its 99 stories (66%) were about people being harmed, usually 42%. 3 of Oromo's 4 stories were about protests or strikes. Its coverage was about 4 times as grief-stricken as the world's.

Protests & strikes

Iraq

Baghdad accounted for 279 of Iraq's 320 stories about harm, carried by 475 outlets. 239 of Baghdad's 279 stories were about protests or strikes. Its coverage was about three times as angry as the world's.

Rights & justice

Japan

243 of its 847 stories (29%) were about people being harmed, usually 13%. Reports of arrests ran at about 10 times the usual rate (111 stories).

Also named far more than usual: helicopter crash in Taiwan (88 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); wildfires in New Zealand (31 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); outbreaks in Poland (10 of its stories, about 5 times its usual); earthquake in Iran (27 of its stories, about 7 times its usual); power cuts in Australia (96 of its stories, about 9 times its usual).

19 in 100 stories were about harm

usually 19; 21 the day before
22 in 10016 in 1004 Dec11 Dec18 Dec25 Dec2 Jan4 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 1001 Jan: 21 in 1002 Jan: 19 in 100 · this day

Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 2 Jan. 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 17,379 stories about harm among 90,070 counted on 2 Jan.

Read the day's briefing

Reports of evacuations ran at about three times the usual rate, most often about Australia and Indonesia. 19 in every 100 of the day's 90,070 news stories were about people being harmed, as usual. In Indonesia's news, mentions of landslides ran more than ten times their usual. Algeria stood out: 69% of its news was about people being harmed, usually 34%. A year earlier, on 2 January 2019, 18 in every 100 stories were about people being harmed, against 19 today.

Written by code from the day's numbers.

Where it happened

feelings in full →
Feelings Events Harm Warmth
Kabul, Afghanistan -- attacks & violence: 20 stories, carried by 31 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Sudbury, Canada -- accidents & disasters: 8 stories, carried by 26 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Vancouver, Canada -- accidents & disasters: 49 stories, carried by 64 outlets; harsh wording in 67 in 100Algiers, Algeria -- protests & strikes: 30 stories, carried by 26 outlets; harsh wording in 97 in 100Varanasi, India -- protests & strikes: 35 stories, carried by 30 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Ankara, Türkiye -- attacks & violence: 42 stories, carried by 48 outlets; harsh wording in 86 in 100Franz Josef Glacier, New Zealand -- accidents & disasters: 15 stories, carried by 27 outlets; harsh wording in 93 in 100Tripoli, Libya -- attacks & violence: 33 stories, carried by 40 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Nuevo Laredo, Mexico -- attacks & violence: 11 stories, carried by 42 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Idlib, Syria -- attacks & violence: 67 stories, carried by 89 outlets; harsh wording in 99 in 100Mogadishu, Somalia -- attacks & violence: 23 stories, carried by 50 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Wan Chai, China -- protests & strikes: 16 stories, carried by 59 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Wan Chai, Hong Kong -- protests & strikes: 49 stories, carried by 77 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Lamu, Kenya -- attacks & violence: 30 stories, carried by 70 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Delhi, India -- accidents & disasters: 271 stories, carried by 214 outlets; harsh wording in 94 in 100Anchorage, US -- accidents & disasters: 21 stories, carried by 93 outlets; harsh wording in 86 in 100Dutch Harbor, US -- accidents & disasters: 14 stories, carried by 94 outlets; harsh wording in 79 in 100Tehran, Iran -- protests & strikes: 78 stories, carried by 102 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Cobargo, Australia -- accidents & disasters: 88 stories, carried by 305 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Taipei, Taiwan -- accidents & disasters: 154 stories, carried by 535 outlets; harsh wording in 97 in 100Krefeld, Germany -- accidents & disasters: 83 stories, carried by 324 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Jakarta, Indonesia -- accidents & disasters: 239 stories, carried by 337 outlets; harsh wording in 99 in 100Mallacoota, Australia -- accidents & disasters: 155 stories, carried by 356 outlets; harsh wording in 99 in 100Baghdad, Iraq -- protests & strikes: 279 stories, carried by 475 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 harsher than usual. Filled dot: today. Ring: usual.

● Angerabout as 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?

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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.