← 1 Dec Thursday 2 December 2021 · to 23:59 UTC 3 Dec →
What the world's news said happened to people.
Counts of coverage, not of suffering
23,025 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 drought in Ethiopia, people affected in Norway and refugees in Cyprus drew the news. Ethiopia's coverage was about twice as angry as the world's. Over the whole world, the tone was much softer than usual.

Part of lifeHealth 62 in 100 of the stories about harm · much more than usual Country that rose mostNorway 32 in 100 of its 143 stories, usually 18
RegionSub-Saharan Africa 41 in 100 of its stories, usually 37
Tone of the words Much softer than usual across the world's stories about harm

What the world's news was about today

how these are picked →
Conflict & violence

Ethiopia

77 of its 115 stories (67%) were about people being harmed, usually 59%. Tigray accounted for 50 of Ethiopia's 77 stories about harm, carried by 98 outlets. Drought was named in 12 of its stories about harm, about 8 times usual. Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's. Fear in its coverage rose to about one and a half times its own usual.

Health

Norway

46 of its 143 stories (32%) were about people being harmed, usually 18%. Reports of people affected ran at about three times the usual rate (5 stories). Outbreaks were named in 12 of its stories about harm, about 7 times usual.

6 more places the news pointed at
Health

Romania

37 of its 120 stories (31%) were about people being harmed, usually 22%. Bucharest accounted for 27 of Romania's 37 stories about harm, carried by 95 outlets. Reports of people affected ran at more than ten times the usual rate (19 stories).

Health

Israel

Jerusalem accounted for 100 of Israel's 213 stories about harm, carried by 131 outlets. Reports of refugees ran at about twice the usual rate (5 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as angry as the world's.

Rights & justice

Panama

13 of its 33 stories (39%) were about people being harmed, usually 26%. Reports of arrests ran at about 4 times the usual rate (6 stories).

Health

UK

Poisoning was named in 31 of its stories about harm, about 5 times usual, with power cuts and food poisoning. Its coverage was about one and a half times as fearful as the world's.

Disasters & accidents

Denmark

Reports of people affected ran at about 6 times the usual rate (16 stories). Snowstorms were named in 18 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual.

Protests & strikes

Burkina Faso

5 of Ouagadougou's 7 stories were about protests or strikes. Its coverage was about one and a half times as fearful as the world's.

Also named far more than usual: snowstorms in Denmark (18 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); drought in Brazil (14 of its stories, about 6 times its usual); flu in Ireland (23 of its stories, about three times its usual); hiv in Ghana (10 of its stories, about three times its usual); cyclone in India (43 of its stories, about 6 times its usual).

25 in 100 stories were about harm

usually 25; 26 the day before
28 in 10023 in 1003 Nov10 Nov17 Nov24 Nov2 Dec3 Nov: 23 in 1004 Nov: 24 in 1005 Nov: 24 in 1006 Nov: 25 in 1007 Nov: 26 in 1008 Nov: 25 in 1009 Nov: 25 in 10010 Nov: 24 in 10011 Nov: 24 in 10012 Nov: 24 in 10013 Nov: 26 in 10014 Nov: 24 in 10015 Nov: 25 in 10016 Nov: 24 in 10017 Nov: 24 in 10018 Nov: 24 in 10019 Nov: 24 in 10020 Nov: 25 in 10021 Nov: 25 in 10022 Nov: 25 in 10023 Nov: 25 in 10024 Nov: 25 in 10025 Nov: 25 in 10026 Nov: 26 in 10027 Nov: 27 in 10028 Nov: 28 in 10029 Nov: 27 in 10030 Nov: 26 in 1001 Dec: 26 in 1002 Dec: 25 in 100 · this day

Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 2 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 23,025 stories about harm among 91,090 counted on 2 Dec.

Read the day's briefing

Mentions of snowstorms ran more than ten times their usual in Denmark's news. of the day's 91,090 news stories, 25 in every 100 were about people being harmed, as usual. Ethiopia stood out: 67% of its news was about people being harmed, usually 59%. On 2 December 2020, a year earlier, the share was 25 in every 100, the same as today.

Written by code from the day's numbers.

Where it happened

feelings in full →
Feelings Events Harm Warmth
Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso -- protests & strikes: 7 stories, carried by 10 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Kavaratti, India -- accidents & disasters: 11 stories, carried by 11 outlets; harsh wording in 82 in 100Damascus, Syria -- attacks & violence: 11 stories, carried by 14 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Port Renfrew, Canada -- accidents & disasters: 5 stories, carried by 13 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Canary Islands, Spain -- accidents & disasters: 8 stories, carried by 21 outlets; harsh wording in 75 in 100Herat, Afghanistan -- protests & strikes: 7 stories, carried by 15 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100English Channel, UK -- accidents & disasters: 29 stories, carried by 25 outlets; harsh wording in 79 in 100Cherbourg, France -- attacks & violence: 8 stories, carried by 12 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Khartoum, Sudan -- protests & strikes: 14 stories, carried by 13 outlets; harsh wording in 86 in 100Kano, Nigeria -- accidents & disasters: 22 stories, carried by 25 outlets; harsh wording in 86 in 100Baghdad, Iraq -- attacks & violence: 13 stories, carried by 34 outlets; harsh wording in 85 in 100Aalborg, Denmark -- accidents & disasters: 13 stories, carried by 47 outlets; harsh wording in 31 in 100Kampala, Uganda -- attacks & violence: 16 stories, carried by 27 outlets; harsh wording in 88 in 100Kiev, Ukraine -- attacks & violence: 22 stories, carried by 27 outlets; harsh wording in 91 in 100Abbotsford, Canada -- accidents & disasters: 40 stories, carried by 27 outlets; harsh wording in 88 in 100Munich, Germany -- attacks & violence: 30 stories, carried by 33 outlets; harsh wording in 80 in 100Yangon, Myanmar -- protests & strikes: 13 stories, carried by 39 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Sanaa, Yemen -- attacks & violence: 12 stories, carried by 37 outlets; harsh wording in 83 in 100Kabul, Afghanistan -- attacks & violence: 61 stories, carried by 78 outlets; harsh wording in 80 in 100Oslo, Norway -- disease & outbreaks: 25 stories, carried by 43 outlets; harsh wording in 80 in 100Tigray, Ethiopia -- attacks & violence: 50 stories, carried by 98 outlets; harsh wording in 98 in 100Kuril Islands, Russia -- accidents & disasters: 5 stories, carried by 61 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Brentwood, US -- accidents & disasters: 27 stories, carried by 149 outlets; harsh wording in 89 in 100Oakland County, US -- attacks & violence: 220 stories, carried by 502 outlets; harsh wording in 94 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 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.