← 8 Jan Saturday 9 January 2021 · to 23:59 UTC 10 Jan →
What the world's news said happened to people.
Counts of coverage, not of suffering
16,846 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 day's news pointed at protests in Quetta (Pakistan), people falling ill in India and the avalanche in Russia. Pakistan's coverage was about twice as fearful as the world's. Everywhere we counted, the words were much harsher than usual.

Help and hope: reports of people freed or reunited ran at about twice the usual rate →
Part of lifeHealth 50 in 100 of the stories about harm · much less than usual Country that rose mostZimbabwe 50 in 100 of its 131 stories, usually 35
RegionSouth Asia 38 in 100 of its stories, usually 29
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

Pakistan

294 of its 616 stories (48%) were about people being harmed, usually 37%. 48 of Quetta's 59 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of abductions ran at about twice the usual rate (17 stories). Its coverage was about twice as fearful as the world's.

Health

India

1,184 of its 3,291 stories (36%) were about people being harmed, usually 27%. Reports of people falling ill ran at about 6 times the usual rate (5 stories). Flu was named in 129 of its stories about harm, about 4 times usual, with bird flu and poisoning. Its coverage was about one and a half times as grief-stricken as the world's.

Disasters & accidents

Russia

98 of its 266 stories (37%) were about people being harmed, usually 28%. Reports of people killed ran at about twice the usual rate (52 stories). Avalanche was named in 25 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual. Its coverage was about one and a half times as grief-stricken as the world's.

6 more places the news pointed at
Disasters & accidents

Indonesia

247 of its 470 stories (53%) were about people being harmed, usually 46%. Jakarta accounted for 210 of Indonesia's 247 stories about harm, carried by 385 outlets. Reports of people affected ran at about three times the usual rate (70 stories). Heavy rain was named in 22 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual, with plane crash.

Disasters & accidents

Taiwan

37 of its 96 stories (39%) were about people being harmed, usually 31%. Reports of people killed ran at about twice the usual rate (21 stories). Earthquake was named in 14 of its stories about harm, about 7 times usual. Anger in its coverage rose to about one and a half times its own usual.

Health

Malaysia

116 of its 297 stories (39%) were about people being harmed, usually 29%. Reports of evacuations ran at about three times the usual rate (7 stories). Flooding was named in 32 of its stories about harm, about 4 times usual, with tuberculosis.

Disasters & accidents

Spain

95 of its 319 stories (30%) were about people being harmed, usually 22%. Reports of people affected ran at about 4 times the usual rate (22 stories). Snowstorms were named in 23 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual.

Health

Cuba

27 of its 43 stories (63%) were about people being harmed, usually 34%. Havana accounted for 17 of Cuba's 27 stories about harm, carried by 38 outlets.

Health

Tunisia

23 of its 28 stories (82%) were about people being harmed, usually 51%. Tunis accounted for 16 of Tunisia's 23 stories about harm, carried by 9 outlets.

Also named far more than usual: flooding in Malaysia (32 of its stories, about 4 times its usual); earthquake in Taiwan (14 of its stories, about 7 times its usual); snowstorms in Spain (23 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); illness in Iran (15 of its stories, about three times its usual); heavy rain in Indonesia (22 of its stories, more than ten times its usual).

31 in 100 stories were about harm

usually 28; 29 the day before
31 in 10025 in 10011 Dec18 Dec25 Dec1 Jan9 Jan11 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 10022 Dec: 27 in 10023 Dec: 27 in 10024 Dec: 27 in 10025 Dec: 28 in 10026 Dec: 30 in 10027 Dec: 31 in 10028 Dec: 29 in 10029 Dec: 29 in 10030 Dec: 29 in 10031 Dec: 29 in 1001 Jan: 28 in 1002 Jan: 29 in 1003 Jan: 30 in 1004 Jan: 27 in 1005 Jan: 27 in 1006 Jan: 27 in 1007 Jan: 28 in 1008 Jan: 29 in 1009 Jan: 31 in 100 · this day

Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 9 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 16,846 stories about harm among 54,978 counted on 9 Jan.

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 54,978 news stories, 31 in every 100 were about people being harmed, above the usual 28. On 10 January 2020, a year earlier, the share was 21 in every 100, against 31 today. Pakistan's news was 48% about people being harmed, against a usual 37%.

Written by code from the day's numbers.

Where it happened

feelings in full →
Feelings Events Harm Warmth
Alexandria, Egypt -- protests & strikes: 10 stories, carried by 9 outlets; harsh wording in 90 in 100Ringaskiddy, Ireland -- people displaced: 10 stories, carried by 10 outlets; harsh wording in 90 in 100Temerloh, Malaysia -- accidents & disasters: 10 stories, carried by 9 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Pahang, Malaysia -- accidents & disasters: 9 stories, carried by 13 outlets; harsh wording in 67 in 100Bali, Indonesia -- attacks & violence: 10 stories, carried by 11 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Townsville, Australia -- accidents & disasters: 5 stories, carried by 11 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Taipei, Taiwan -- accidents & disasters: 25 stories, carried by 21 outlets; harsh wording in 96 in 100Bangui, Central African Republic -- attacks & violence: 8 stories, carried by 13 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Kabul, Afghanistan -- attacks & violence: 19 stories, carried by 28 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Prince Edward Island, Canada -- deaths, cause not given: 5 stories, carried by 25 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Middlesbrough, UK -- accidents & disasters: 17 stories, carried by 46 outlets; harsh wording in 82 in 100Baghdad, Iraq -- protests & strikes: 19 stories, carried by 40 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Tripoli, Libya -- attacks & violence: 9 stories, carried by 51 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Tigray, Ethiopia -- people displaced: 22 stories, carried by 60 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Balakot, Pakistan -- attacks & violence: 20 stories, carried by 35 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Norilsk, Russia -- accidents & disasters: 17 stories, carried by 38 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Delhi, India -- disease & outbreaks: 270 stories, carried by 140 outlets; harsh wording in 70 in 100Quetta, Pakistan -- protests & strikes: 59 stories, carried by 84 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Madrid, Spain -- accidents & disasters: 55 stories, carried by 118 outlets; harsh wording in 96 in 100Tehran, Iran -- disease & outbreaks: 68 stories, carried by 141 outlets; harsh wording in 97 in 100Bhandara, India -- accidents & disasters: 158 stories, carried by 122 outlets; harsh wording in 92 in 100Atlanta, US -- protests & strikes: 57 stories, carried by 287 outlets; harsh wording in 91 in 100Jakarta, Indonesia -- accidents & disasters: 210 stories, carried by 385 outlets; harsh wording in 98 in 100Washington, US -- protests & strikes: 2,021 stories, carried by 1,772 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
● 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.