← 19 Jan Monday 20 January 2025 · to 23:59 UTC 21 Jan →
What the world's news said happened to people.
Counts of coverage, not of suffering
15,757 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 rights and justice in Tel Aviv, violence in Catatumbo and people killed in Tanzania. Colombia's coverage was about one and a half times as angry as the world's. Worldwide, the words used were much softer than usual.

Reports of abductions ran at about twice the usual rate, most often about Israel and the US → Help and hope: reports of people freed or reunited ran at about twice the usual rate →
Part of lifeRights & justice 28 in 100 of the stories about harm · much more than usual Country that rose mostColombia 69 in 100 of its 58 stories, usually 26
RegionMiddle East & North Africa 48 in 100 of its stories, usually 44
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 →
Rights & justice

Israel

885 of its 1,165 stories (76%) were about people being harmed, usually 67%. Tel Aviv accounted for 251 of Israel's 885 stories about harm, carried by 417 outlets. Reports of arrests ran at about twice the usual rate (370 stories). Earthquake was named in 15 of its stories about harm, about 5 times usual. Its coverage was about one and a half times as angry as the world's.

Conflict & violence

Colombia

40 of its 58 stories (69%) were about people being harmed, usually 26%. Catatumbo accounted for 17 of Colombia's 40 stories about harm, carried by 27 outlets. Reports of abductions ran at about 5 times the usual rate (10 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as angry as the world's.

Health

Tanzania

33 of its 62 stories (53%) were about people being harmed, usually 23%. Reports of people killed ran at about twice the usual rate (18 stories). Ebola was named in 14 of its stories about harm, about three times usual.

Disasters & accidents

Taiwan

49 of its 165 stories (30%) were about people being harmed, usually 14%. Reports of people injured ran at more than ten times the usual rate (15 stories). Earthquake was named in 33 of its stories about harm, about 10 times usual.

6 more places the news pointed at
Conflict & violence

Rwanda

19 of its 30 stories (63%) were about people being harmed, usually 32%. Reports of people injured ran at more than ten times the usual rate (6 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as fearful as the world's.

Conflict & violence

Ghana

103 of its 531 stories (19%) were about people being harmed, usually 14%. Reports of people injured ran at about 10 times the usual rate (21 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as grief-stricken as the world's.

Conflict & violence

Azerbaijan

Baku accounted for 34 of Azerbaijan's 46 stories about harm, carried by 15 outlets. Reports of arrests ran at about 5 times the usual rate (12 stories). 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.

Rights & justice

Palestine

Gaza accounted for 177 of Palestine's 251 stories about harm, carried by 249 outlets. Reports of arrests ran at about three times the usual rate (102 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as angry as the world's.

Rights & justice

India

Reports of abductions ran at about three times the usual rate (25 stories). Poisoning was named in 19 of its stories about harm, about 4 times usual. Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's. Anger in its coverage rose to about one and a half times its own usual.

Protests & strikes

South Korea

Seoul accounted for 83 of South Korea's 109 stories about harm, carried by 75 outlets. 61 of Seoul's 83 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of people injured ran at about three times the usual rate (24 stories).

Also named far more than usual: extreme cold in Canada (70 of its stories, about 7 times its usual); heavy rain in New Zealand (16 of its stories, about 4 times its usual); storms in Ireland (26 of its stories, about 4 times its usual); helicopter crash in Iran (11 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); extreme cold in US (372 of its stories, about 4 times its usual).

19 in 100 stories were about harm

usually 20; 19 the day before
22 in 10018 in 10022 Dec29 Dec5 Jan12 Jan20 Jan22 Dec: 18 in 10023 Dec: 18 in 10024 Dec: 18 in 10025 Dec: 19 in 10026 Dec: 20 in 10027 Dec: 19 in 10028 Dec: 20 in 10029 Dec: 22 in 10030 Dec: 21 in 10031 Dec: 20 in 1001 Jan: 20 in 1002 Jan: 20 in 1003 Jan: 20 in 1004 Jan: 21 in 1005 Jan: 21 in 1006 Jan: 20 in 1007 Jan: 20 in 1008 Jan: 21 in 1009 Jan: 22 in 10010 Jan: 22 in 10011 Jan: 22 in 10012 Jan: 22 in 10013 Jan: 20 in 10014 Jan: 19 in 10015 Jan: 20 in 10016 Jan: 19 in 10017 Jan: 19 in 10018 Jan: 19 in 10019 Jan: 19 in 10020 Jan: 19 in 100 · this day

Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 20 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 15,757 stories about harm among 83,419 counted on 20 Jan.

Read the day's briefing

Reports of people freed or reunited, a sign of help, ran at about twice the usual rate. 19 in every 100 of the day's 83,419 news stories were about people being harmed, below the usual 20. For the third day running, the news turned to Israel. Reports of abductions ran at about twice the usual rate, most often about Israel and the US. Mentions of the earthquake ran about 10 times their usual in Taiwan's news.

Written by code from the day's numbers.

Where it happened

feelings in full →
Feelings Events Harm Warmth
Baku, Azerbaijan -- attacks & violence: 34 stories, carried by 15 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Taipei, Taiwan -- accidents & disasters: 25 stories, carried by 21 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Abuja, Nigeria -- accidents & disasters: 43 stories, carried by 47 outlets; harsh wording in 79 in 100Kyiv, Ukraine -- attacks & violence: 31 stories, carried by 26 outlets; harsh wording in 84 in 100Catatumbo, Colombia -- attacks & violence: 17 stories, carried by 27 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Ottawa, Canada -- accidents & disasters: 23 stories, carried by 48 outlets; harsh wording in 87 in 100Moscow, Russia -- attacks & violence: 34 stories, carried by 32 outlets; harsh wording in 94 in 100Sopore, Kashmir -- attacks & violence: 24 stories, carried by 19 outlets; harsh wording in 96 in 100Yujing, Taiwan -- accidents & disasters: 18 stories, carried by 23 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Tibu, Colombia -- people displaced: 5 stories, carried by 35 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Prince Edward Island, Canada -- accidents & disasters: 6 stories, carried by 37 outlets; harsh wording in 67 in 100Warsaw, Poland -- people displaced: 5 stories, carried by 33 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Dikko, Nigeria -- accidents & disasters: 48 stories, carried by 32 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Northern Ireland, UK -- accidents & disasters: 93 stories, carried by 134 outlets; harsh wording in 77 in 100Pimpala, Australia -- accidents & disasters: 14 stories, carried by 65 outlets; harsh wording in 86 in 100Kagera, Tanzania -- disease & outbreaks: 11 stories, carried by 40 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Wappa Dam, Australia -- accidents & disasters: 13 stories, carried by 60 outlets; harsh wording in 92 in 100Seoul, South Korea -- protests & strikes: 83 stories, carried by 75 outlets; harsh wording in 98 in 100Catatumbo, Venezuela -- people displaced: 8 stories, carried by 117 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Damascus, Syria -- attacks & violence: 41 stories, carried by 126 outlets; harsh wording in 88 in 100Belgrade, -- accidents & disasters: 21 stories, carried by 75 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Southport, UK -- attacks & violence: 211 stories, carried by 226 outlets; harsh wording in 93 in 100Houston, US -- accidents & disasters: 100 stories, carried by 207 outlets; harsh wording in 80 in 100Los Angeles, US -- accidents & disasters: 369 stories, carried by 521 outlets; harsh wording in 76 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.