← 20 Dec Monday 21 December 2020 · to 23:59 UTC 22 Dec →
What the world's news said happened to people.
Counts of coverage, not of suffering
21,637 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 violence in Tripoli, people killed in Denmark and people affected in Fiji. Libya's coverage was about twice as angry as the world's. Worldwide, the words used were about as usual.

Part of lifeHealth 66 in 100 of the stories about harm · much more than usual Country that rose mostLibya 74 in 100 of its 125 stories, usually 36
RegionCentral Asia 47 in 100 of its stories, usually 34
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 →
Conflict & violence

Libya

92 of its 125 stories (74%) were about people being harmed, usually 36%. Tripoli accounted for 54 of Libya's 92 stories about harm, carried by 189 outlets. Reports of people injured ran at more than ten times the usual rate (31 stories). Illness was named in 62 of its stories about harm, about three times usual. Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's.

Health

Denmark

47 of its 84 stories (56%) were about people being harmed, usually 32%. Reports of people killed ran at about twice the usual rate (25 stories). Its coverage was about twice as fearful as the world's.

Disasters & accidents

Fiji

57 of its 88 stories (65%) were about people being harmed, usually 43%. Reports of people affected ran at about twice the usual rate (12 stories).

6 more places the news pointed at
Conflict & violence

Tunisia

31 of its 49 stories (63%) were about people being harmed, usually 41%. Tunis accounted for 24 of Tunisia's 31 stories about harm, carried by 20 outlets. Reports of arrests ran at about 5 times the usual rate (5 stories). Fear in its coverage rose to about one and a half times its own usual.

Health

UK

3,480 of its 8,184 stories (43%) were about people being harmed, usually 30%. Train derailment was named in 15 of its stories about harm, about 5 times usual, with hurricane. Its coverage was about twice as fearful as the world's.

Conflict & violence

Central African Republic

28 of its 40 stories (70%) were about people being harmed, usually 48%. Bangui accounted for 24 of the Central African Republic's 28 stories about harm, carried by 36 outlets. Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's.

Health

Jamaica

62 of its 143 stories (43%) were about people being harmed, usually 31%. Reports of people affected ran at about twice the usual rate (14 stories). Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's.

Conflict & violence

Afghanistan

118 of its 160 stories (74%) were about people being harmed, usually 62%. Hunger was named in 26 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual. Its coverage was about three times as grief-stricken as the world's.

Health

Thailand

92 of its 217 stories (42%) were about people being harmed, usually 34%. Bangkok accounted for 69 of Thailand's 92 stories about harm, carried by 66 outlets. Outbreaks were named in 58 of its stories about harm, about 5 times usual.

Also named far more than usual: outbreaks in Thailand (58 of its stories, about 5 times its usual); outbreaks in Australia (208 of its stories, about 4 times its usual); hurricane in Puerto Rico (14 of its stories, about 4 times its usual); hunger in Afghanistan (26 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); poisoning in Russia (44 of its stories, about three times its usual).

27 in 100 stories were about harm

usually 26; 28 the day before
28 in 10024 in 10022 Nov29 Nov6 Dec13 Dec21 Dec22 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 10014 Dec: 26 in 10015 Dec: 25 in 10016 Dec: 25 in 10017 Dec: 25 in 10018 Dec: 25 in 10019 Dec: 28 in 10020 Dec: 28 in 10021 Dec: 27 in 100 · this day

Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 21 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 21,637 stories about harm among 79,516 counted on 21 Dec.

Read the day's briefing

Libya stood out: 74% of its news was about people being harmed, usually 36%. On 22 December 2019, a year earlier, the share was 20 in every 100, against 27 today. of the day's 79,516 news stories, 27 in every 100 were about people being harmed, above the usual 26.

Written by code from the day's numbers.

Where it happened

feelings in full →
Feelings Events Harm Warmth
Diyarbakir, Türkiye -- attacks & violence: 5 stories, carried by 14 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Jakana, Nigeria -- attacks & violence: 14 stories, carried by 13 outlets; harsh wording in 86 in 100Kankara, Nigeria -- attacks & violence: 31 stories, carried by 22 outlets; harsh wording in 84 in 100Prince Edward Island, Canada -- deaths, cause not given: 8 stories, carried by 29 outlets; harsh wording in 75 in 100Kisii, Kenya -- protests & strikes: 7 stories, carried by 20 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Ankara, Türkiye -- attacks & violence: 8 stories, carried by 26 outlets; harsh wording in 88 in 100Zeebrugge, Belgium -- accidents & disasters: 6 stories, carried by 18 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Kathmandu, Nepal -- protests & strikes: 20 stories, carried by 33 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Stonehaven, UK -- accidents & disasters: 19 stories, carried by 33 outlets; harsh wording in 84 in 100Bangui, Central African Republic -- attacks & violence: 24 stories, carried by 36 outlets; harsh wording in 96 in 100Tigray, Ethiopia -- attacks & violence: 36 stories, carried by 91 outlets; harsh wording in 97 in 100Melbourne, Australia -- disease & outbreaks: 45 stories, carried by 111 outlets; harsh wording in 76 in 100Bangkok, Thailand -- disease & outbreaks: 69 stories, carried by 66 outlets; harsh wording in 99 in 100Magdeburg, Germany -- attacks & violence: 21 stories, carried by 85 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Tehran, Iran -- attacks & violence: 34 stories, carried by 155 outlets; harsh wording in 94 in 100Salem, US -- protests & strikes: 25 stories, carried by 97 outlets; harsh wording in 92 in 100Baghdad, Iraq -- attacks & violence: 42 stories, carried by 100 outlets; harsh wording in 90 in 100Ghazni, Afghanistan -- disease & outbreaks: 46 stories, carried by 120 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Kabul, Afghanistan -- attacks & violence: 45 stories, carried by 126 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Omsk, Russia -- disease & outbreaks: 15 stories, carried by 102 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Moscow, Russia -- disease & outbreaks: 134 stories, carried by 193 outlets; harsh wording in 76 in 100Sydney, Australia -- disease & outbreaks: 234 stories, carried by 158 outlets; harsh wording in 88 in 100Tripoli, Libya -- attacks & violence: 54 stories, carried by 189 outlets; harsh wording in 98 in 100Hawaiian Volcano Observatory, US -- accidents & disasters: 88 stories, carried by 519 outlets; harsh wording in 98 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.

● Angera little less than usual
● Warmthabout as usual
● Griefa little less than usual
● Fearabout one and a half times 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.