← 15 Dec Thursday 16 December 2021 · to 23:59 UTC 17 Dec →
What the world's news said happened to people.
Counts of coverage, not of suffering
23,043 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 plane crash in the Dominican Republic, rights and justice in Tigray and people affected in Iran. the Dominican Republic's coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's. Over the whole world, the tone was softer than usual.

Help and hope: reports of people freed or reunited ran at about one and a half times the usual rate →
Part of lifeHealth 55 in 100 of the stories about harm · about as usual Country that rose mostDominican Republic 76 in 100 of its 54 stories, usually 20
RegionLatin America & Caribbean 35 in 100 of its stories, usually 30
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 →
Disasters & accidents

Dominican Republic

41 of its 54 stories (76%) were about people being harmed, usually 20%. Isabela accounted for 22 of the Dominican Republic's 41 stories about harm, carried by 30 outlets. Reports of people killed ran at about 7 times the usual rate (38 stories). Plane crash was named in 11 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual. Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's.

Rights & justice

Ethiopia

57 of its 88 stories (65%) were about people being harmed, usually 54%. Tigray accounted for 30 of Ethiopia's 57 stories about harm, carried by 61 outlets. Reports of arrests ran at about three times the usual rate (14 stories). Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's.

Conflict & violence

Iran

84 of its 228 stories (37%) were about people being harmed, usually 28%. Reports of people affected ran at about 4 times the usual rate (14 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as angry as the world's.

Health

Malaysia

145 of its 404 stories (36%) were about people being harmed, usually 28%. Reports of people affected ran at about 4 times the usual rate (35 stories). Anger in its coverage rose to about one and a half times its own usual.

6 more places the news pointed at
Rights & justice

North Korea

36 of its 69 stories (52%) were about people being harmed, usually 31%. Reports of people killed ran at about three times the usual rate (15 stories). Its coverage was about three times as grief-stricken as the world's.

Health

Philippines

335 of its 661 stories (51%) were about people being harmed, usually 44%. Reports of evacuations ran at more than ten times the usual rate (63 stories). Typhoon was named in 152 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual, with flooding, landslides and heavy rain.

Health

New Zealand

238 of its 560 stories (42%) were about people being harmed, usually 36%. Reports of arrests ran at about three times the usual rate (18 stories). Anger in its coverage rose to about one and a half times its own usual.

Health

Australia

692 of its 2,265 stories (31%) were about people being harmed, usually 25%. Reports of people injured ran at about 10 times the usual rate (63 stories). Grief in its coverage rose to about twice its own usual.

Conflict & violence

Palestine

Homesh accounted for 28 of Palestine's 46 stories about harm, carried by 45 outlets. Reports of people injured ran at about twice the usual rate (19 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as angry as the world's. Fear in its coverage rose to about one and a half times its own usual.

Protests & strikes

Cameroon

5 of Buea's 6 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of abductions ran at about 4 times the usual rate (5 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as angry as the world's.

Also named far more than usual: typhoon in Philippines (152 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); illness in Morocco (10 of its stories, about 4 times its usual); tornadoes in US (770 of its stories, about 4 times its usual); hunger in India (16 of its stories, about three times its usual).

26 in 100 stories were about harm

usually 26; 26 the day before
28 in 10024 in 10017 Nov24 Nov1 Dec8 Dec16 Dec17 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 1003 Dec: 26 in 1004 Dec: 27 in 1005 Dec: 27 in 1006 Dec: 26 in 1007 Dec: 25 in 1008 Dec: 25 in 1009 Dec: 25 in 10010 Dec: 25 in 10011 Dec: 27 in 10012 Dec: 27 in 10013 Dec: 27 in 10014 Dec: 27 in 10015 Dec: 26 in 10016 Dec: 26 in 100 · this day

Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 16 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 23,043 stories about harm among 87,257 counted on 16 Dec.

Read the day's briefing

Dominican Republic stood out: 76% of its news was about people being harmed, usually 20%. 26 in every 100 of the day's 87,257 news stories were about people being harmed, as usual. On the side of help, reports of people freed or reunited ran at about one and a half times the usual rate. On 16 December 2020, a year earlier, the share was 25 in every 100, against 26 today.

Written by code from the day's numbers.

Where it happened

feelings in full →
Feelings Events Harm Warmth
Marib, Yemen -- attacks & violence: 6 stories, carried by 10 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Canary Islands, Spain -- accidents & disasters: 6 stories, carried by 10 outlets; harsh wording in 83 in 100Surigao, Philippines -- accidents & disasters: 7 stories, carried by 9 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Hamburg, Germany -- deaths, cause not given: 16 stories, carried by 29 outlets; harsh wording in 75 in 100Patricia Bay, Canada -- accidents & disasters: 6 stories, carried by 14 outlets; harsh wording in 83 in 100La Palma, Spain -- accidents & disasters: 10 stories, carried by 11 outlets; harsh wording in 90 in 100Dhaka, Bangladesh -- attacks & violence: 55 stories, carried by 35 outlets; harsh wording in 60 in 100Johor, Malaysia -- accidents & disasters: 23 stories, carried by 13 outlets; harsh wording in 91 in 100Abbotsford, Canada -- accidents & disasters: 13 stories, carried by 18 outlets; harsh wording in 92 in 100Tehran, Iran -- attacks & violence: 35 stories, carried by 35 outlets; harsh wording in 83 in 100Peshawar, Pakistan -- attacks & violence: 38 stories, carried by 20 outlets; harsh wording in 95 in 100Devonport, UK -- deaths, cause not given: 16 stories, carried by 60 outlets; harsh wording in 75 in 100Bab al-Hawa, Syria -- attacks & violence: 5 stories, carried by 23 outlets; harsh wording in 80 in 100Kulgam, Kashmir -- attacks & violence: 24 stories, carried by 21 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Devonport, Australia -- deaths, cause not given: 31 stories, carried by 35 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Golan Heights, Syria -- attacks & violence: 12 stories, carried by 23 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Homesh, Palestine -- attacks & violence: 28 stories, carried by 45 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Isabela, Dominican Republic -- accidents & disasters: 22 stories, carried by 30 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Adelaide, Australia -- deaths, cause not given: 72 stories, carried by 88 outlets; harsh wording in 93 in 100Kabul, Afghanistan -- attacks & violence: 90 stories, carried by 149 outlets; harsh wording in 83 in 100Philippine, Philippines -- accidents & disasters: 135 stories, carried by 203 outlets; harsh wording in 79 in 100Serpukhov, Russia -- attacks & violence: 8 stories, carried by 88 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Kentucky, US -- accidents & disasters: 158 stories, carried by 246 outlets; harsh wording in 80 in 100Dawson Springs, US -- accidents & disasters: 121 stories, carried by 345 outlets; harsh wording in 93 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
● 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.