← 29 Jan Saturday 30 January 2021 · to 23:59 UTC 31 Jan →
What the world's news said happened to people.
Counts of coverage, not of suffering
15,410 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 deaths in Athens, illness in Hanoi and violence in Kabul. Afghanistan's coverage was about twice as angry as the world's. Everywhere we counted, the words were about as usual.

Part of lifeHealth 56 in 100 of the stories about harm · about as usual Country that rose mostFiji 71 in 100 of its 68 stories, usually 39
RegionSoutheast Asia 41 in 100 of its stories, usually 39
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 →
Deaths & injuries, cause not given

Greece

86 of its 192 stories (45%) were about people being harmed, usually 30%. Athens accounted for 69 of Greece's 86 stories about harm, carried by 218 outlets. Reports of people killed ran at about three times the usual rate (62 stories). Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's.

6 more places the news pointed at
Health

Taiwan

36 of its 84 stories (43%) were about people being harmed, usually 26%. Reports of people killed ran at about three times the usual rate (20 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as grief-stricken as the world's.

Deaths & injuries, cause not given

Cuba

28 of its 44 stories (64%) were about people being harmed, usually 42%. Reports of people killed ran at about twice the usual rate (22 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as grief-stricken as the world's.

Health

Romania

14 of its 24 stories (58%) were about people being harmed, usually 32%. Reports of evacuations ran at about 5 times the usual rate (6 stories). Anger in its coverage rose to about one and a half times its own usual.

Disasters & accidents

Fiji

48 of its 68 stories (71%) were about people being harmed, usually 39%. Heavy rain was named in 27 of its stories about harm, about 5 times usual, with flooding, storms and landslides.

Health

France

157 of its 473 stories (33%) were about people being harmed, usually 25%. Reports of arrests ran at about three times the usual rate (14 stories).

Health

United Arab Emirates

71 of its 236 stories (30%) were about people being harmed, usually 22%. Dubai accounted for 66 of the United Arab Emirates' 71 stories about harm, carried by 66 outlets.

Also named far more than usual: heavy rain in Fiji (27 of its stories, about 5 times its usual); road crashes in Spain (11 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); respiratory illness in China (24 of its stories, about 4 times its usual); ebola in South Africa (13 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); snowstorms in US (190 of its stories, about 4 times its usual).

27 in 100 stories were about harm

usually 27; 26 the day before
31 in 10026 in 1001 Jan8 Jan15 Jan22 Jan30 Jan1 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 10022 Jan: 26 in 10023 Jan: 28 in 10024 Jan: 28 in 10025 Jan: 26 in 10026 Jan: 26 in 10027 Jan: 26 in 10028 Jan: 26 in 10029 Jan: 26 in 10030 Jan: 27 in 100 · this day

Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 30 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 15,410 stories about harm among 56,279 counted on 30 Jan.

Read the day's briefing

27 in every 100 of the day's 56,279 news stories were about people being harmed, as usual. On 31 January 2020, a year earlier, the share was 21 in every 100, against 27 today.

Written by code from the day's numbers.

Where it happened

feelings in full →
Feelings Events Harm Warmth
Bangui, Central African Republic -- people displaced: 10 stories, carried by 15 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Ghazipur, India -- protests & strikes: 15 stories, carried by 12 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Sistan, Iran -- attacks & violence: 8 stories, carried by 14 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Dhaka, Bangladesh -- people displaced: 29 stories, carried by 47 outlets; harsh wording in 72 in 100Istanbul, Türkiye -- accidents & disasters: 15 stories, carried by 36 outlets; harsh wording in 93 in 100Bucharest, Romania -- accidents & disasters: 11 stories, carried by 38 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Tehran, Iran -- attacks & violence: 30 stories, carried by 32 outlets; harsh wording in 90 in 100Pulwama, Kashmir -- attacks & violence: 22 stories, carried by 19 outlets; harsh wording in 95 in 100Prince Edward Island, Canada -- deaths, cause not given: 5 stories, carried by 28 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Kabul, Afghanistan -- attacks & violence: 40 stories, carried by 30 outlets; harsh wording in 85 in 100Mogadishu, Somalia -- attacks & violence: 6 stories, carried by 22 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Havana, Cuba -- deaths, cause not given: 16 stories, carried by 38 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Jalalabad, Afghanistan -- attacks & violence: 12 stories, carried by 24 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Baghdad, Iraq -- attacks & violence: 18 stories, carried by 33 outlets; harsh wording in 94 in 100Hanoi, Vietnam -- disease & outbreaks: 43 stories, carried by 46 outlets; harsh wording in 79 in 100Afrin, Syria -- attacks & violence: 18 stories, carried by 41 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100West Midlands, UK -- accidents & disasters: 29 stories, carried by 103 outlets; harsh wording in 79 in 100Warsaw, Poland -- protests & strikes: 20 stories, carried by 51 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100New Orleans, US -- protests & strikes: 17 stories, carried by 137 outlets; harsh wording in 76 in 100Athens, Greece -- deaths, cause not given: 69 stories, carried by 218 outlets; harsh wording in 43 in 100Rochester, US -- protests & strikes: 21 stories, carried by 83 outlets; harsh wording in 95 in 100Santiago, Chile -- accidents & disasters: 12 stories, carried by 140 outlets; harsh wording in 92 in 100Moscow, Russia -- protests & strikes: 92 stories, carried by 173 outlets; harsh wording in 90 in 100Delhi, India -- attacks & violence: 380 stories, carried by 304 outlets; harsh wording in 88 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
● 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.