← 26 Dec Friday 27 December 2024 · to 23:59 UTC 28 Dec →
What the world's news said happened to people.
Counts of coverage, not of suffering
13,150 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 plane crash in Russia, the tsunami in Sri Lanka and abductions in Kenya. Sri Lanka's coverage was about one and a half times as grief-stricken as the world's. In the world's news as a whole, the wording was much harsher than usual.

Part of lifeHealth 26 in 100 of the stories about harm · about as usual Country that rose mostAzerbaijan 41 in 100 of its 292 stories, usually 17
RegionCentral Asia 35 in 100 of its stories, usually 23
Tone of the words Much harsher than usual across the world's stories about harm

What the world's news was about today

how these are picked →
Conflict & violence

Russia

407 of its 855 stories (48%) were about people being harmed, usually 29%. Moscow accounted for 244 of Russia's 407 stories about harm, carried by 469 outlets. Reports of people affected ran at about 4 times the usual rate (116 stories). Plane crash was named in 88 of its stories about harm, about 8 times usual.

Disasters & accidents

Sri Lanka

39 of its 133 stories (29%) were about people being harmed, usually 21%. Reports of people killed ran at about three times the usual rate (26 stories). Tsunami was named in 13 of its stories about harm, about 4 times usual. Its coverage was about one and a half times as grief-stricken as the world's.

Rights & justice

Kenya

53 of its 142 stories (37%) were about people being harmed, usually 22%. Reports of abductions ran at more than ten times the usual rate (15 stories).

6 more places the news pointed at
Conflict & violence

Yemen

112 of its 140 stories (80%) were about people being harmed, usually 60%. Sanaa accounted for 101 of Yemen's 112 stories about harm, carried by 126 outlets. Reports of people injured ran at about three times the usual rate (62 stories). Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's.

Conflict & violence

North Korea

22 of its 71 stories (31%) were about people being harmed, usually 22%. Reports of people injured ran at about 8 times the usual rate (15 stories). Illness was named in 11 of its stories about harm, about three times usual. Its coverage was about one and a half times as grief-stricken as the world's. Anger in its coverage rose to about one and a half times its own usual.

Conflict & violence

Palestine

100 of its 147 stories (68%) were about people being harmed, usually 61%. Gaza accounted for 77 of Palestine's 100 stories about harm, carried by 64 outlets. Reports of evacuations ran at about 4 times the usual rate (9 stories). Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's.

Disasters & accidents

Kazakhstan

54 of its 118 stories (46%) were about people being harmed, usually 30%. Aktau accounted for 45 of Kazakhstan's 54 stories about harm, carried by 39 outlets. Reports of people injured ran at about twice the usual rate (14 stories).

Disasters & accidents

Australia

298 of its 1,200 stories (25%) were about people being harmed, usually 18%. Reports of people killed ran at about three times the usual rate (134 stories). Wildfires were named in 50 of its stories about harm, about three times usual, with storms and drought.

Conflict & violence

Syria

Damascus accounted for 61 of Syria's 120 stories about harm, carried by 75 outlets. Reports of people injured ran at about three times the usual rate (19 stories). Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's.

Also named far more than usual: flooding in Fiji (17 of its stories, about 6 times its usual); illness in North Korea (11 of its stories, about three times its usual); wildfires in Australia (50 of its stories, about three times its usual); hunger in Israel (72 of its stories, about three times its usual); flooding in China (19 of its stories, about 5 times its usual).

19 in 100 stories were about harm

usually 18; 20 the day before
20 in 10017 in 10028 Nov5 Dec12 Dec19 Dec27 Dec28 Nov: 17 in 10029 Nov: 17 in 10030 Nov: 17 in 1001 Dec: 18 in 1002 Dec: 17 in 1003 Dec: 17 in 1004 Dec: 17 in 1005 Dec: 17 in 1006 Dec: 18 in 1007 Dec: 18 in 1008 Dec: 20 in 1009 Dec: 19 in 10010 Dec: 18 in 10011 Dec: 17 in 10012 Dec: 17 in 10013 Dec: 17 in 10014 Dec: 17 in 10015 Dec: 18 in 10016 Dec: 17 in 10017 Dec: 18 in 10018 Dec: 18 in 10019 Dec: 18 in 10020 Dec: 18 in 10021 Dec: 19 in 10022 Dec: 18 in 10023 Dec: 18 in 10024 Dec: 18 in 10025 Dec: 19 in 10026 Dec: 20 in 10027 Dec: 19 in 100 · this day

Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 27 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 13,150 stories about harm among 68,033 counted on 27 Dec.

Read the day's briefing

Stories about people being harmed made up 19 in every 100 of the day's 68,033 stories, above the usual 18. A year earlier, on 28 December 2023, 20 in every 100 stories were about people being harmed, against 19 today.

Written by code from the day's numbers.

Where it happened

feelings in full →
Feelings Events Harm Warmth
Bamako, Mali -- accidents & disasters: 7 stories, carried by 20 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Montreal, Canada -- accidents & disasters: 14 stories, carried by 44 outlets; harsh wording in 71 in 100Aktau, Kazakhstan -- accidents & disasters: 45 stories, carried by 39 outlets; harsh wording in 93 in 100Baku, Azerbaijan -- accidents & disasters: 85 stories, carried by 53 outlets; harsh wording in 96 in 100Tartous, Syria -- attacks & violence: 16 stories, carried by 37 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Hunan, China -- protests & strikes: 8 stories, carried by 31 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Northern Ireland, UK -- accidents & disasters: 55 stories, carried by 100 outlets; harsh wording in 93 in 100Pyongyang, North Korea -- attacks & violence: 21 stories, carried by 40 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Gaza, Palestine -- attacks & violence: 77 stories, carried by 64 outlets; harsh wording in 92 in 100Sokoto, Nigeria -- attacks & violence: 45 stories, carried by 39 outlets; harsh wording in 96 in 100Beijing, China -- accidents & disasters: 52 stories, carried by 182 outlets; harsh wording in 85 in 100Damascus, Syria -- attacks & violence: 61 stories, carried by 75 outlets; harsh wording in 98 in 100Delhi, India -- deaths, cause not given: 241 stories, carried by 159 outlets; harsh wording in 70 in 100Maputo, Mozambique -- protests & strikes: 45 stories, carried by 61 outlets; harsh wording in 98 in 100Hawaiian Volcano Observatory, US -- accidents & disasters: 18 stories, carried by 53 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Kursk, Russia -- attacks & violence: 39 stories, carried by 79 outlets; harsh wording in 97 in 100Nassau, Bahamas -- accidents & disasters: 7 stories, carried by 107 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Batemans Bay, Australia -- accidents & disasters: 18 stories, carried by 82 outlets; harsh wording in 94 in 100Canary Islands, Spain -- accidents & disasters: 13 stories, carried by 106 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Sydney, Australia -- accidents & disasters: 66 stories, carried by 131 outlets; harsh wording in 92 in 100Dallas, US -- accidents & disasters: 63 stories, carried by 282 outlets; harsh wording in 92 in 100Sanaa, Yemen -- attacks & violence: 101 stories, carried by 126 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Jerusalem, Israel -- attacks & violence: 198 stories, carried by 327 outlets; harsh wording in 96 in 100Moscow, Russia -- attacks & violence: 244 stories, carried by 469 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 much harsher than usual. Filled dot: today. Ring: usual.

● Angerabout as usual
● Warmthabout as usual
● Griefa little more 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

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.