← 14 Jan Friday 15 January 2021 · to 23:59 UTC 16 Jan →
What the world's news said happened to people.
Counts of coverage, not of suffering
25,643 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 →

Most of the day's attention went to the earthquake in Indonesia, violence in Bangui and people killed in Norway. Indonesia's coverage was about three times as grief-stricken as the world's. In the world's news as a whole, the wording was about as usual.

Part of lifeHealth 57 in 100 of the stories about harm · less than usual Country that rose mostIndonesia 68 in 100 of its 493 stories, usually 49
RegionSoutheast Asia 43 in 100 of its stories, usually 38
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 →
Disasters & accidents

Indonesia

337 of its 493 stories (68%) were about people being harmed, usually 49%. Mamuju accounted for 127 of Indonesia's 337 stories about harm, carried by 339 outlets. Reports of people injured ran at more than ten times the usual rate (212 stories). Earthquake was named in 253 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual, with tsunami, landslides and volcanic eruption. Its coverage was about three times as grief-stricken as the world's.

Health

Norway

75 of its 178 stories (42%) were about people being harmed, usually 28%. Reports of people killed ran at about three times the usual rate (47 stories). Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's.

6 more places the news pointed at
Conflict & violence

Algeria

15 of its 22 stories (68%) were about people being harmed, usually 38%. Reports of people injured ran at about 4 times the usual rate (7 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as grief-stricken as the world's.

Health

UK

Reports of people falling ill ran at about three times the usual rate (5 stories). Snowstorms were named in 61 of its stories about harm, about 4 times usual. Its coverage was about one and a half times as fearful as the world's.

Protests & strikes

North Korea

13 of Pyongyang's 18 stories were about protests or strikes. Train derailment was named in 14 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual. Its coverage was about one and a half times as angry as the world's.

Health

Brazil

165 of its 322 stories (51%) were about people being harmed, usually 34%. Its coverage was about one and a half times as fearful as the world's.

Disasters & accidents

Ecuador

15 of its 19 stories (79%) were about people being harmed, usually 42%. Earthquake was named in 11 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual.

Rights & justice

Cuba

41 of its 75 stories (55%) were about people being harmed, usually 42%. Its coverage was about twice as fearful as the world's.

Also named far more than usual: train derailment in North Korea (14 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); earthquake in Ecuador (11 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); snowstorms in UK (61 of its stories, about 4 times its usual); road crashes in India (26 of its stories, about 5 times its usual).

27 in 100 stories were about harm

usually 28; 27 the day before
31 in 10025 in 10017 Dec24 Dec31 Dec7 Jan15 Jan17 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 10010 Jan: 31 in 10011 Jan: 27 in 10012 Jan: 27 in 10013 Jan: 27 in 10014 Jan: 27 in 10015 Jan: 27 in 100 · this day

Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 15 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 25,643 stories about harm among 94,432 counted on 15 Jan.

Read the day's briefing

Mentions of the earthquake ran more than ten times their usual in Indonesia's news. of the day's 94,432 news stories, 27 in every 100 were about people being harmed, as usual. On 16 January 2020, a year earlier, the share was 17 in every 100, against 27 today. Indonesia's news was 68% about people being harmed, against a usual 49%.

Written by code from the day's numbers.

Where it happened

feelings in full →
Feelings Events Harm Warmth
Damascus, Syria -- attacks & violence: 11 stories, carried by 12 outlets; harsh wording in 91 in 100Townsville, Australia -- accidents & disasters: 5 stories, carried by 14 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Dal Lake, Kashmir -- accidents & disasters: 11 stories, carried by 11 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Lashkar, India -- attacks & violence: 9 stories, carried by 9 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Colchester, UK -- accidents & disasters: 26 stories, carried by 21 outlets; harsh wording in 88 in 100Bamako, Mali -- attacks & violence: 10 stories, carried by 28 outlets; harsh wording in 60 in 100Tripoli, Libya -- attacks & violence: 10 stories, carried by 31 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Aleppo, Syria -- attacks & violence: 11 stories, carried by 27 outlets; harsh wording in 91 in 100Nayapara, Bangladesh -- people displaced: 14 stories, carried by 25 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Gaza, Palestine -- attacks & violence: 15 stories, carried by 45 outlets; harsh wording in 93 in 100Bangui, Central African Republic -- attacks & violence: 27 stories, carried by 38 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Tehran, Iran -- attacks & violence: 33 stories, carried by 35 outlets; harsh wording in 94 in 100Ghazni, Afghanistan -- attacks & violence: 8 stories, carried by 23 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Tigray, Ethiopia -- people displaced: 42 stories, carried by 45 outlets; harsh wording in 98 in 100Phnom Penh, Cambodia -- protests & strikes: 10 stories, carried by 49 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Sanaa, Yemen -- attacks & violence: 13 stories, carried by 50 outlets; harsh wording in 92 in 100Kabul, Afghanistan -- attacks & violence: 19 stories, carried by 54 outlets; harsh wording in 79 in 100Port-au-Prince, Haiti -- attacks & violence: 6 stories, carried by 62 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Pyongyang, North Korea -- protests & strikes: 18 stories, carried by 84 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Yorkshire, UK -- accidents & disasters: 41 stories, carried by 172 outlets; harsh wording in 83 in 100Little Rock, US -- protests & strikes: 21 stories, carried by 211 outlets; harsh wording in 95 in 100Majene, Indonesia -- accidents & disasters: 54 stories, carried by 194 outlets; harsh wording in 98 in 100Mamuju, Indonesia -- accidents & disasters: 127 stories, carried by 339 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Washington, US -- protests & strikes: 2,125 stories, carried by 1,747 outlets; harsh wording in 87 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.

● Angerabout as usual
● Warmthabout as usual
● Griefa little less 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.