← 21 Dec Wednesday 22 December 2021 · to 23:59 UTC 23 Dec →
What the world's news said happened to people.
Counts of coverage, not of suffering
21,721 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 hunger in Yemen, helicopter crash in Madagascar and protests in Khartoum (Sudan) drew the news. Sudan's coverage was about twice as angry as the world's. Language across the world's news ran much softer than usual.

Part of lifeHealth 64 in 100 of the stories about harm · much more than usual Country that rose mostMadagascar 84 in 100 of its 58 stories, usually 38
RegionSoutheast Asia 45 in 100 of its stories, usually 41
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

Yemen

59 of its 84 stories (70%) were about people being harmed, usually 53%. Sanaa accounted for 34 of Yemen's 59 stories about harm, carried by 37 outlets. Reports of evacuations ran at more than ten times the usual rate (6 stories). Hunger was named in 25 of its stories about harm, about three 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.

Disasters & accidents

Madagascar

49 of its 58 stories (84%) were about people being harmed, usually 38%. Reports of people affected ran at about 6 times the usual rate (43 stories). Helicopter crash was named in 21 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual. Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's.

Protests & strikes

Sudan

45 of its 52 stories (87%) were about people being harmed, usually 63%. Khartoum accounted for 26 of Sudan's 45 stories about harm, carried by 28 outlets. 24 of Khartoum's 26 stories were about protests or strikes. Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's.

6 more places the news pointed at
Disasters & accidents

Malaysia

189 of its 395 stories (48%) were about people being harmed, usually 32%. Selangor accounted for 106 of Malaysia's 189 stories about harm, carried by 47 outlets. Reports of people displaced ran at about 8 times the usual rate (21 stories). Flooding was named in 114 of its stories about harm, about 4 times usual, with heavy rain.

Conflict & violence

Ethiopia

33 of its 47 stories (70%) were about people being harmed, usually 53%. Tigray accounted for 19 of Ethiopia's 33 stories about harm, carried by 30 outlets. Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's.

Disasters & accidents

Greece

81 of its 196 stories (41%) were about people being harmed, usually 32%. Reports of people affected ran at about three times the usual rate (34 stories). Accidents were named in 20 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual.

Disasters & accidents

Myanmar

39 of its 48 stories (81%) were about people being harmed, usually 67%. Reports of people affected ran at about 4 times the usual rate (26 stories). Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's.

Conflict & violence

Syria

54 of its 92 stories (59%) were about people being harmed, usually 51%. Reports of people displaced ran at about three times the usual rate (12 stories). Its coverage was about twice as fearful as the world's.

Protests & strikes

Guatemala

7 of its 11 stories (64%) were about people being harmed, usually 35%. 3 of Santa Catarina Ixtahuacan's 4 stories were about protests or strikes. Its coverage was about one and a half times as grief-stricken as the world's.

Also named far more than usual: flooding in Malaysia (114 of its stories, about 4 times its usual); accidents in Greece (20 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); flooding in Japan (14 of its stories, about 8 times its usual); flu in Israel (11 of its stories, about three times its usual); poisoning in India (20 of its stories, about 5 times its usual).

27 in 100 stories were about harm

usually 26; 27 the day before
28 in 10025 in 10023 Nov30 Nov7 Dec14 Dec22 Dec23 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 10017 Dec: 26 in 10018 Dec: 27 in 10019 Dec: 27 in 10020 Dec: 27 in 10021 Dec: 27 in 10022 Dec: 27 in 100 · this day

Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 22 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 21,721 stories about harm among 79,915 counted on 22 Dec.

Read the day's briefing

Stories about people being harmed made up 27 in every 100 of the day's 79,915 stories, as usual. On 22 December 2020, a year earlier, the share was 27 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
Pointe Desny, Mauritius -- accidents & disasters: 10 stories, carried by 19 outlets; harsh wording in 70 in 100Donbass, Ukraine -- attacks & violence: 7 stories, carried by 11 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Kyiv, Ukraine -- attacks & violence: 13 stories, carried by 21 outlets; harsh wording in 85 in 100Jenin, Palestine -- protests & strikes: 14 stories, carried by 17 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Athens, Greece -- accidents & disasters: 30 stories, carried by 39 outlets; harsh wording in 70 in 100Gwadar, Pakistan -- attacks & violence: 7 stories, carried by 23 outlets; harsh wording in 86 in 100Sainte-Marie, Madagascar -- accidents & disasters: 6 stories, carried by 13 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Sanaa, Yemen -- attacks & violence: 34 stories, carried by 37 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Tigray, Ethiopia -- attacks & violence: 19 stories, carried by 30 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Anantnag, Kashmir -- attacks & violence: 18 stories, carried by 17 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Idlib, Syria -- attacks & violence: 21 stories, carried by 32 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Kentucky, US -- accidents & disasters: 54 stories, carried by 52 outlets; harsh wording in 70 in 100Tripoli, Libya -- attacks & violence: 18 stories, carried by 32 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Kabul, Afghanistan -- attacks & violence: 65 stories, carried by 99 outlets; harsh wording in 94 in 100Selangor, Malaysia -- accidents & disasters: 106 stories, carried by 47 outlets; harsh wording in 80 in 100Khartoum, Sudan -- protests & strikes: 26 stories, carried by 28 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Philippine, Philippines -- accidents & disasters: 135 stories, carried by 65 outlets; harsh wording in 70 in 100Gaza, Palestine -- attacks & violence: 10 stories, carried by 63 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Amsterdam, Netherlands -- attacks & violence: 11 stories, carried by 85 outlets; harsh wording in 91 in 100Mahambo, Madagascar -- accidents & disasters: 21 stories, carried by 41 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Dawson Springs, US -- accidents & disasters: 18 stories, carried by 73 outlets; harsh wording in 72 in 100Folegandros, Greece -- accidents & disasters: 18 stories, carried by 52 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Komodo, Indonesia -- protests & strikes: 6 stories, carried by 57 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Yangon, Myanmar -- accidents & disasters: 19 stories, carried by 101 outlets; harsh wording in 100 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.

● Angera little less than 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

The week in human impact

Read the week →

Unlock a year of trends, free. Follow up to 5 countries, with a bell when their news changes, and 👍 vote for Pro — ten years of the archive, any period, daily alerts.

Create a free account

Sign in · a username, an email and a password.

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.