← 3 Jan Saturday 4 January 2020 · to 23:59 UTC 5 Jan →
What the world's news said happened to people.
Counts of coverage, not of suffering
13,743 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 landslides in Indonesia, violence in Tehran and protests in Nankana Sahib (Pakistan). Iran's coverage was about twice as angry as the world's. Everywhere we counted, the words were much harsher than usual.

Reports of evacuations ran at about twice the usual rate, most often about Australia and Indonesia → Help and hope: reports of people freed or reunited ran at about one and a half times the usual rate →
Part of lifeConflict & violence 28 in 100 of the stories about harm · much more than usual Country that rose mostCambodia 86 in 100 of its 58 stories, usually 27
RegionMiddle East & North Africa 54 in 100 of its stories, usually 34
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 →
Disasters & accidents

Indonesia

151 of its 231 stories (65%) were about people being harmed, usually 34%. Jakarta accounted for 135 of Indonesia's 151 stories about harm, carried by 364 outlets. Reports of people affected ran at about three times the usual rate (69 stories). Landslides were named in 105 of its stories about harm, about 5 times usual, with heavy rain, hypothermia and drownings. Its coverage was about one and a half times as grief-stricken as the world's.

Conflict & violence

Iran

1,151 of its 1,979 stories (58%) were about people being harmed, usually 46%. Tehran accounted for 570 of Iran's 1,151 stories about harm, carried by 1,248 outlets. Reports of abductions ran at about three times the usual rate (31 stories). Its coverage was about twice as angry 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
Disasters & accidents

Cambodia

50 of its 58 stories (86%) were about people being harmed, usually 27%. Phnom Penh accounted for 35 of Cambodia's 50 stories about harm, carried by 97 outlets. Reports of people injured ran at more than ten times the usual rate (37 stories). Building collapse was named in 22 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual.

Conflict & violence

Israel

101 of its 205 stories (49%) were about people being harmed, usually 32%. Drownings were named in 10 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual. Grief in its coverage rose to about one and a half times its own usual.

Conflict & violence

Burkina Faso

26 of its 28 stories (93%) were about people being harmed, usually 73%. Reports of people injured ran at about three times the usual rate (25 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as grief-stricken as the world's.

Protests & strikes

North Korea

11 of its 49 stories (22%) were about people being harmed, usually 11%. 8 of Pyongyang's 8 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of arrests ran at more than ten times the usual rate (10 stories).

Health

China

193 of its 945 stories (20%) were about people being harmed, usually 14%. Reports of people killed ran at about twice the usual rate (56 stories). Respiratory illness was named in 53 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual, with outbreaks, flu and covid.

Conflict & violence

France

89 of its 405 stories (22%) were about people being harmed, usually 16%. Reports of people injured ran at about 9 times the usual rate (41 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as angry as the world's.

Also named far more than usual: building collapse in Cambodia (22 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); respiratory illness in China (53 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); helicopter crash in Taiwan (16 of its stories, about 4 times its usual); flu in Poland (13 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); illness in Philippines (13 of its stories, about three times its usual).

23 in 100 stories were about harm

usually 19; 21 the day before
23 in 10016 in 1006 Dec13 Dec20 Dec27 Dec4 Jan6 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 1003 Jan: 21 in 1004 Jan: 23 in 100 · this day

Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 4 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 13,743 stories about harm among 58,692 counted on 4 Jan.

Read the day's briefing

No day had a higher share of stories about people being harmed since 8 September 2019. the news turned to Indonesia for the fourth day running. 23 in every 100 of the day's 58,692 news stories were about people being harmed, above the usual 19. On the side of help, reports of people freed or reunited ran at about one and a half times the usual rate.

Written by code from the day's numbers.

Where it happened

feelings in full →
Feelings Events Harm Warmth
Berlin, Germany -- attacks & violence: 11 stories, carried by 32 outlets; harsh wording in 82 in 100Inata, Burkina Faso -- attacks & violence: 6 stories, carried by 20 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Pyongyang, North Korea -- protests & strikes: 8 stories, carried by 20 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Kabul, Afghanistan -- attacks & violence: 28 stories, carried by 25 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Darfur, Sudan -- attacks & violence: 17 stories, carried by 29 outlets; harsh wording in 94 in 100Juarez, Mexico -- people displaced: 5 stories, carried by 54 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Vancouver, Canada -- accidents & disasters: 47 stories, carried by 74 outlets; harsh wording in 98 in 100Balakot, Pakistan -- attacks & violence: 30 stories, carried by 32 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Lucknow, India -- protests & strikes: 38 stories, carried by 45 outlets; harsh wording in 97 in 100Damascus, Syria -- attacks & violence: 18 stories, carried by 40 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Nankana Sahib, Pakistan -- protests & strikes: 123 stories, carried by 65 outlets; harsh wording in 99 in 100Hyderabad, India -- protests & strikes: 32 stories, carried by 63 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Wuhan, China -- disease & outbreaks: 56 stories, carried by 59 outlets; harsh wording in 98 in 100Phnom Penh, Cambodia -- accidents & disasters: 35 stories, carried by 97 outlets; harsh wording in 97 in 100Tripoli, Libya -- attacks & violence: 40 stories, carried by 94 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Mashhad, Iran -- attacks & violence: 9 stories, carried by 85 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Mallacoota, Australia -- accidents & disasters: 71 stories, carried by 158 outlets; harsh wording in 92 in 100Paris, France -- attacks & violence: 60 stories, carried by 175 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Fort Bragg, US -- attacks & violence: 19 stories, carried by 164 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Washington, US -- attacks & violence: 414 stories, carried by 508 outlets; harsh wording in 92 in 100Jakarta, Indonesia -- accidents & disasters: 135 stories, carried by 364 outlets; harsh wording in 99 in 100Sydney, Australia -- accidents & disasters: 253 stories, carried by 862 outlets; harsh wording in 97 in 100Baghdad, Iraq -- attacks & violence: 775 stories, carried by 1,134 outlets; harsh wording in 99 in 100Tehran, Iran -- attacks & violence: 570 stories, carried by 1,248 outlets; harsh wording in 99 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.

● Angerabout one and a half times usual
● Warmthabout as usual
● Griefabout one and a half times usual
● Feara little more than 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.