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What the world's news said happened to people.
Counts of coverage, not of suffering
7,542 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 protests in Tehran (Iran), volcanic eruption in Germany and people killed in Nigeria. Iran's coverage was about twice as angry as the world's. Across the world, the tone of the words was much harsher than usual.

Reports of abductions ran at about twice the usual rate, most often about Venezuela and Nigeria → Help and hope: reports of people freed or reunited ran at about one and a half times the usual rate →
Part of lifeRights & justice 26 in 100 of the stories about harm · about as usual Country that rose mostSwitzerland 77 in 100 of its 201 stories, usually 31
RegionSub-Saharan Africa 34 in 100 of its stories, usually 27
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 →
Protests & strikes

Iran

141 of its 218 stories (65%) were about people being harmed, usually 46%. Tehran accounted for 101 of Iran's 141 stories about harm, carried by 148 outlets. 91 of Tehran's 101 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of people injured ran at about twice the usual rate (17 stories). Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's.

Disasters & accidents

Germany

52 of its 170 stories (31%) were about people being harmed, usually 16%. Berlin accounted for 34 of Germany's 52 stories about harm, carried by 59 outlets. Reports of people affected ran at about 4 times the usual rate (24 stories). Volcanic eruption was named in 10 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual, with power cuts.

Conflict & violence

Nigeria

314 of its 723 stories (43%) were about people being harmed, usually 30%. Reports of people killed ran at about three times the usual rate (183 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as fearful as the world's. Anger in its coverage rose to about one and a half times its own usual.

6 more places the news pointed at
Disasters & accidents

Switzerland

155 of its 201 stories (77%) were about people being harmed, usually 31%. Reports of people killed ran at about three times the usual rate (146 stories). Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's.

Conflict & violence

Somalia

27 of its 55 stories (49%) were about people being harmed, usually 34%. Reports of people killed ran at about three times the usual rate (13 stories). Grief in its coverage rose to about one and a half times its own usual.

Conflict & violence

France

81 of its 282 stories (29%) were about people being harmed, usually 18%. Reports of people injured ran at about three times the usual rate (8 stories).

Health

Singapore

17 of its 63 stories (27%) were about people being harmed, usually 15%. Reports of evacuations ran at about 9 times the usual rate (5 stories).

Rights & justice

Fiji

11 of its 24 stories (46%) were about people being harmed, usually 27%. Reports of arrests ran at about three times the usual rate (6 stories).

Disasters & accidents

Ireland

103 of its 438 stories (24%) were about people being harmed, usually 18%. Reports of people killed ran at about twice the usual rate (41 stories).

Also named far more than usual: snowstorms in UK (57 of its stories, about 7 times its usual); outbreaks in India (37 of its stories, about 4 times its usual); overdoses in US (13 of its stories, about 4 times its usual).

19 in 100 stories were about harm

usually 19; 20 the day before
21 in 10017 in 1006 Dec13 Dec20 Dec27 Dec4 Jan6 Dec: 18 in 1007 Dec: 17 in 1008 Dec: 18 in 1009 Dec: 17 in 10010 Dec: 17 in 10011 Dec: 17 in 10012 Dec: 17 in 10013 Dec: 18 in 10014 Dec: 21 in 10015 Dec: 20 in 10016 Dec: 19 in 10017 Dec: 18 in 10018 Dec: 18 in 10019 Dec: 18 in 10020 Dec: 18 in 10021 Dec: 18 in 10022 Dec: 18 in 10023 Dec: 19 in 10024 Dec: 19 in 10025 Dec: 18 in 10026 Dec: 19 in 10027 Dec: 20 in 10028 Dec: 20 in 10029 Dec: 19 in 10030 Dec: 19 in 10031 Dec: 19 in 1001 Jan: 18 in 1002 Jan: 19 in 1003 Jan: 20 in 1004 Jan: 19 in 100 · this day

Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 4 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 7,542 stories about harm among 38,809 counted on 4 Jan.

Read the day's briefing

It was the fifth day running that the news turned to Iran. of the day's 38,809 news stories, 19 in every 100 were about people being harmed, as usual. Germany's news mentioned volcanic eruption more than ten times as often as usual. Help and hope: reports of people freed or reunited ran at about one and a half times the usual rate. Reports of abductions ran at about twice the usual rate, most often about Venezuela and Nigeria. This week the news turned most often to Iran, on 5 of 7 days; help rose on 1 of them.

Written by code from the day's numbers.

Where it happened

feelings in full →
Feelings Events Harm Warmth
Baghdad, Iraq -- attacks & violence: 6 stories, carried by 9 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Jeddah, Saudi Arabia -- accidents & disasters: 8 stories, carried by 9 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Kyiv, Ukraine -- attacks & violence: 18 stories, carried by 18 outlets; harsh wording in 89 in 100Pretoria, South Africa -- deaths, cause not given: 9 stories, carried by 13 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Longford, Ireland -- accidents & disasters: 37 stories, carried by 31 outlets; harsh wording in 95 in 100Kordofan, Sudan -- attacks & violence: 5 stories, carried by 14 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Gaza, Palestine -- attacks & violence: 23 stories, carried by 25 outlets; harsh wording in 83 in 100Moscow, Russia -- attacks & violence: 27 stories, carried by 30 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Mukalla, Yemen -- attacks & violence: 8 stories, carried by 15 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Zurich, Switzerland -- accidents & disasters: 9 stories, carried by 18 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Lakki Marwat, Pakistan -- attacks & violence: 8 stories, carried by 17 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Perth, Australia -- accidents & disasters: 8 stories, carried by 55 outlets; harsh wording in 88 in 100Jerusalem, Israel -- attacks & violence: 31 stories, carried by 59 outlets; harsh wording in 94 in 100Damascus, Syria -- attacks & violence: 18 stories, carried by 30 outlets; harsh wording in 94 in 100Malekshahi, Iran -- protests & strikes: 8 stories, carried by 25 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Sydney, Australia -- attacks & violence: 43 stories, carried by 99 outlets; harsh wording in 84 in 100Yobe, Nigeria -- accidents & disasters: 10 stories, carried by 33 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100New York, US -- attacks & violence: 84 stories, carried by 142 outlets; harsh wording in 81 in 100Kasuwan Daji, Nigeria -- attacks & violence: 57 stories, carried by 81 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Laurencekirk, UK -- accidents & disasters: 12 stories, carried by 142 outlets; harsh wording in 92 in 100Shetland Isles, UK -- accidents & disasters: 5 stories, carried by 130 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Tehran, Iran -- protests & strikes: 101 stories, carried by 148 outlets; harsh wording in 98 in 100Washington, US -- attacks & violence: 260 stories, carried by 428 outlets; harsh wording in 93 in 100Kharkiv, Ukraine -- attacks & violence: 12 stories, carried by 174 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 harsher than usual. Filled dot: today. Ring: usual.

● Angera little more than 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

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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.