← 20 Jan Thursday 21 January 2021 · to 23:59 UTC 22 Jan →
What the world's news said happened to people.
Counts of coverage, not of suffering
26,007 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 violence in Baghdad, illness in Lisbon and drownings in Libya. Iraq's coverage was about 5 times as grief-stricken as the world's. Over the whole world, the tone was softer than usual.

Reports of evacuations ran at about twice the usual rate, most often about the US and the UK → Help and hope: reports of aid and relief ran at about one and a half times the usual rate →
Part of lifeHealth 59 in 100 of the stories about harm · about as usual Country that rose mostIraq 86 in 100 of its 291 stories, usually 56
RegionEvery region about as usual
Tone of the words Softer than usual across the world's stories about harm

What the world's news was about today

how these are picked →
Conflict & violence

Iraq

251 of its 291 stories (86%) were about people being harmed, usually 56%. Baghdad accounted for 238 of Iraq's 251 stories about harm, carried by 430 outlets. Reports of people injured ran at about 8 times the usual rate (198 stories). Its coverage was about 5 times as grief-stricken as the world's.

Health

Portugal

55 of its 121 stories (45%) were about people being harmed, usually 26%. Lisbon accounted for 34 of Portugal's 55 stories about harm, carried by 31 outlets. Outbreaks were named in 11 of its stories about harm, about 4 times usual. Its coverage was about one and a half times as fearful as the world's.

Disasters & accidents

Libya

41 of its 96 stories (43%) were about people being harmed, usually 33%. Reports of people affected ran at about three times the usual rate (25 stories). Drownings were named in 10 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual. Its coverage was about one and a half times as fearful as the world's.

6 more places the news pointed at
Disasters & accidents

Ukraine

71 of its 157 stories (45%) were about people being harmed, usually 30%. Reports of people injured ran at about three times the usual rate (28 stories). Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's. Anger in its coverage rose to about one and a half times its own usual.

Health

Spain

Reports of people injured ran at about 7 times the usual rate (38 stories). Gas explosion was named in 21 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual. Anger in its coverage rose to about one and a half times its own usual.

Health

UK

Reports of evacuations ran at about 9 times the usual rate (70 stories). Flooding was named in 307 of its stories about harm, about 4 times usual, with heavy rain. Its coverage was about one and a half times as fearful as the world's.

Health

Australia

Reports of refugees ran at about 4 times the usual rate (11 stories). Heatwave was named in 15 of its stories about harm, about 5 times usual. Its coverage was about one and a half times as fearful as the world's.

Health

Ghana

140 of its 454 stories (31%) were about people being harmed, usually 22%. Reports of arrests ran at about 5 times the usual rate (41 stories).

Health

Barbados

12 of its 33 stories (36%) were about people being harmed, usually 22%. Reports of people killed ran at about twice the usual rate (5 stories).

Also named far more than usual: flooding in UK (307 of its stories, about 4 times its usual); gas explosion in Spain (21 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); earthquake in Philippines (34 of its stories, about 4 times its usual); heatwave in Australia (15 of its stories, about 5 times its usual); diphtheria in India (19 of its stories, more than ten times its usual).

26 in 100 stories were about harm

usually 28; 26 the day before
31 in 10026 in 10023 Dec30 Dec6 Jan13 Jan21 Jan23 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 10016 Jan: 29 in 10017 Jan: 29 in 10018 Jan: 27 in 10019 Jan: 27 in 10020 Jan: 26 in 10021 Jan: 26 in 100 · this day

Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 21 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 26,007 stories about harm among 100,957 counted on 21 Jan.

Read the day's briefing

It was the lowest share of stories about people being harmed since 18 December 2020. of the day's 100,957 news stories, 26 in every 100 were about people being harmed, below the usual 28. Reports of aid and relief, a sign of help, ran at about one and a half times the usual rate. Reports of evacuations ran at about twice the usual rate, most often about the US and the UK. On 22 January 2020, a year earlier, the share was 18 in every 100, against 26 today.

Written by code from the day's numbers.

Where it happened

feelings in full →
Feelings Events Harm Warmth
Poonch, Kashmir -- deaths, cause not given: 9 stories, carried by 11 outlets; harsh wording in 89 in 100Algiers, Algeria -- protests & strikes: 10 stories, carried by 15 outlets; harsh wording in 90 in 100Tigray, Ethiopia -- attacks & violence: 23 stories, carried by 26 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Bern, Switzerland -- accidents & disasters: 11 stories, carried by 13 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Darfur, Sudan -- attacks & violence: 16 stories, carried by 15 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Ramallah, Palestine -- attacks & violence: 23 stories, carried by 24 outlets; harsh wording in 83 in 100Kabul, Afghanistan -- attacks & violence: 9 stories, carried by 15 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Khartoum, Sudan -- attacks & violence: 9 stories, carried by 15 outlets; harsh wording in 89 in 100Bangui, Central African Republic -- attacks & violence: 9 stories, carried by 11 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Quetta, Pakistan -- attacks & violence: 7 stories, carried by 13 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Damascus, Syria -- attacks & violence: 22 stories, carried by 24 outlets; harsh wording in 95 in 100Tunis, Tunisia -- protests & strikes: 26 stories, carried by 26 outlets; harsh wording in 92 in 100Brasilia, Brazil -- protests & strikes: 20 stories, carried by 111 outlets; harsh wording in 20 in 100Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia -- protests & strikes: 13 stories, carried by 30 outlets; harsh wording in 92 in 100Chongqing, China -- attacks & violence: 10 stories, carried by 60 outlets; harsh wording in 90 in 100Lisbon, Portugal -- disease & outbreaks: 34 stories, carried by 31 outlets; harsh wording in 88 in 100Jakarta, Indonesia -- accidents & disasters: 44 stories, carried by 54 outlets; harsh wording in 93 in 100Kharkiv, Ukraine -- accidents & disasters: 27 stories, carried by 48 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Wrexham, UK -- accidents & disasters: 84 stories, carried by 117 outlets; harsh wording in 93 in 100Manchester, UK -- accidents & disasters: 225 stories, carried by 211 outlets; harsh wording in 92 in 100Xinjiang, China -- attacks & violence: 105 stories, carried by 209 outlets; harsh wording in 96 in 100Mendon, US -- people displaced: 91 stories, carried by 299 outlets; harsh wording in 92 in 100Portland, US -- protests & strikes: 117 stories, carried by 329 outlets; harsh wording in 93 in 100Baghdad, Iraq -- attacks & violence: 238 stories, carried by 430 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 softer than 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.