← 12 Dec Sunday 13 December 2020 · to 23:59 UTC 14 Dec →
What the world's news said happened to people.
Counts of coverage, not of suffering
12,257 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 Minsk (Belarus), rights and justice in Tehran and people injured in Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan's coverage was about twice as angry as the world's. Across the world, the tone of the words was much harsher than usual.

Reports of abductions ran at about twice the usual rate, most often about Nigeria and the US → Help and hope: reports of people freed or reunited ran at about twice the usual rate →
Part of lifeHealth 56 in 100 of the stories about harm · less than usual Country that rose mostFiji 50 in 100 of its 50 stories, usually 25
RegionCentral Asia 43 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 →
Protests & strikes

Belarus

22 of its 32 stories (69%) were about people being harmed, usually 39%. Minsk accounted for 22 of Belarus' 22 stories about harm, carried by 101 outlets. 22 of Minsk's 22 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of arrests ran at about twice the usual rate (20 stories).

Rights & justice

Iran

125 of its 205 stories (61%) were about people being harmed, usually 51%. Tehran accounted for 82 of Iran's 125 stories about harm, carried by 143 outlets. Reports of arrests ran at about three times the usual rate (35 stories). Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's.

Conflict & violence

Azerbaijan

32 of its 44 stories (73%) were about people being harmed, usually 39%. Reports of people injured ran at about 8 times the usual rate (29 stories). Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's.

6 more places the news pointed at
Conflict & violence

Armenia

20 of its 32 stories (62%) were about people being harmed, usually 32%. Reports of people injured ran at more than ten times the usual rate (18 stories). Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's.

Conflict & violence

Nigeria

376 of its 911 stories (41%) were about people being harmed, usually 35%. Reports of abductions ran at about 4 times the usual rate (85 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as angry as the world's.

Health

Italy

79 of its 244 stories (32%) were about people being harmed, usually 25%. Reports of people killed ran at about twice the usual rate (40 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as grief-stricken as the world's.

Disasters & accidents

Fiji

25 of its 50 stories (50%) were about people being harmed, usually 25%. Cyclone was named in 13 of its stories about harm, about 5 times usual.

Health

South Korea

75 of its 169 stories (44%) were about people being harmed, usually 32%. Seoul accounted for 58 of South Korea's 75 stories about harm, carried by 58 outlets.

Conflict & violence

Niger

10 of its 13 stories (77%) were about people being harmed, usually 37%. Its coverage was about one and a half times as angry as the world's.

Also named far more than usual: flooding in Australia (59 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); cyclone in Fiji (13 of its stories, about 5 times its usual); wildfires in France (19 of its stories, about 8 times its usual); poisoning in Russia (10 of its stories, about 4 times its usual); snowstorms in US (43 of its stories, about 4 times its usual).

27 in 100 stories were about harm

usually 26; 27 the day before
30 in 10024 in 10011 Nov21 Nov28 Nov5 Dec13 Dec11 Nov: 25 in 10012 Nov: 26 in 10013 Nov: 27 in 10015 Nov: 30 in 10018 Nov: 26 in 10019 Nov: 26 in 10020 Nov: 26 in 10021 Nov: 26 in 10022 Nov: 28 in 10023 Nov: 26 in 10024 Nov: 25 in 10025 Nov: 25 in 10026 Nov: 25 in 10027 Nov: 25 in 10028 Nov: 26 in 10029 Nov: 26 in 10030 Nov: 25 in 1001 Dec: 25 in 1002 Dec: 25 in 1003 Dec: 25 in 1004 Dec: 25 in 1005 Dec: 27 in 1006 Dec: 26 in 1007 Dec: 25 in 1008 Dec: 25 in 1009 Dec: 25 in 10010 Dec: 24 in 10011 Dec: 25 in 10012 Dec: 27 in 10013 Dec: 27 in 100 · this day

Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 13 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 12,257 stories about harm among 44,691 counted on 13 Dec.

Read the day's briefing

Help and hope: reports of people freed or reunited ran at about twice the usual rate. of the day's 44,691 news stories, 27 in every 100 were about people being harmed, above the usual 26. Reports of abductions ran at about twice the usual rate, most often about Nigeria and the US. On 14 December 2019, a year earlier, the share was 18 in every 100, against 27 today. In Belarus, 69% of the news was about people being harmed, where 39% is usual. This week the news turned most often to Ethiopia, on 3 of 7 days; help rose on 3 of them.

Written by code from the day's numbers.

Where it happened

feelings in full →
Feelings Events Harm Warmth
Jammu, Kashmir -- attacks & violence: 27 stories, carried by 18 outlets; harsh wording in 89 in 100Beirut, Lebanon -- attacks & violence: 18 stories, carried by 22 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Lleida, Spain -- attacks & violence: 7 stories, carried by 11 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Lafiya, Nigeria -- attacks & violence: 7 stories, carried by 8 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Yerevan, Armenia -- attacks & violence: 5 stories, carried by 10 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Azeri, Armenia -- attacks & violence: 10 stories, carried by 13 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Poonch, Kashmir -- attacks & violence: 16 stories, carried by 11 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Toumour, Niger -- attacks & violence: 5 stories, carried by 14 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Washington State Patrol, US -- protests & strikes: 21 stories, carried by 30 outlets; harsh wording in 86 in 100Prince Edward Island, Canada -- deaths, cause not given: 6 stories, carried by 28 outlets; harsh wording in 83 in 100Bali, Indonesia -- attacks & violence: 10 stories, carried by 33 outlets; harsh wording in 80 in 100Hadrut, Azerbaijan -- attacks & violence: 13 stories, carried by 24 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Nanjing, China -- attacks & violence: 14 stories, carried by 22 outlets; harsh wording in 93 in 100Tirana, Albania -- protests & strikes: 8 stories, carried by 40 outlets; harsh wording in 88 in 100Baku, Azerbaijan -- attacks & violence: 13 stories, carried by 22 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Byron Bay, Australia -- accidents & disasters: 25 stories, carried by 33 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Fraser Island, Australia -- accidents & disasters: 11 stories, carried by 35 outlets; harsh wording in 91 in 100Olympia, US -- protests & strikes: 40 stories, carried by 46 outlets; harsh wording in 95 in 100Islamabad, Pakistan -- attacks & violence: 64 stories, carried by 106 outlets; harsh wording in 89 in 100Tigray, Ethiopia -- people displaced: 46 stories, carried by 96 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Kabul, Afghanistan -- attacks & violence: 59 stories, carried by 124 outlets; harsh wording in 90 in 100Warsaw, Poland -- protests & strikes: 14 stories, carried by 118 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Minsk, Belarus -- protests & strikes: 22 stories, carried by 101 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Katsina, Nigeria -- attacks & violence: 109 stories, carried by 303 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.