← 17 Feb Saturday 18 February 2017 · to 23:59 UTC 19 Feb →
What the world's news said happened to people.
Counts of coverage, not of suffering
37,516 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 →

Protests in Pyongyang (North Korea), train derailment in Belgium and rights and justice in Kuala Lumpur drew the news. Malaysia's coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's. Everywhere we counted, the words were much harsher than usual.

Reports of evacuations ran at about three times the usual rate, most often about the US and Belgium →
Part of lifeRights & justice 34 in 100 of the stories about harm · about as usual Country that rose mostNorth Korea 64 in 100 of its 647 stories, usually 23
RegionSoutheast Asia 40 in 100 of its stories, usually 26
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

North Korea

414 of its 647 stories (64%) were about people being harmed, usually 23%. Pyongyang accounted for 325 of North Korea's 414 stories about harm, carried by 265 outlets. 164 of Pyongyang's 325 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of people killed ran at about 4 times the usual rate (321 stories). Fear in its coverage rose to about twice its own usual.

Disasters & accidents

Belgium

288 of its 474 stories (61%) were about people being harmed, usually 22%. Leuven accounted for 276 of Belgium's 288 stories about harm, carried by 238 outlets. Reports of evacuations ran at more than ten times the usual rate (59 stories). Train derailment was named in 197 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual. Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's.

Rights & justice

Malaysia

1,264 of its 1,962 stories (64%) were about people being harmed, usually 34%. Kuala Lumpur accounted for 1,154 of Malaysia's 1,264 stories about harm, carried by 785 outlets. Reports of arrests ran at about 5 times the usual rate (1,016 stories). Poisoning was named in 592 of its stories about harm, about 4 times usual. Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's.

Conflict & violence

South Sudan

198 of its 224 stories (88%) were about people being harmed, usually 70%. Dinka accounted for 183 of South Sudan's 198 stories about harm, carried by 165 outlets. Reports of refugees ran at about three times the usual rate (123 stories). Drought was named in 18 of its stories about harm, about 4 times usual.

6 more places the news pointed at
Protests & strikes

Venezuela

143 of its 219 stories (65%) were about people being harmed, usually 39%. Caracas accounted for 113 of Venezuela's 143 stories about harm, carried by 95 outlets. 108 of Caracas' 113 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of arrests ran at about 5 times the usual rate (68 stories).

Conflict & violence

Iraq

634 of its 775 stories (82%) were about people being harmed, usually 67%. Reports of arrests ran at about 4 times the usual rate (194 stories). Extreme cold was named in 15 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual. Its coverage was about one and a half times as angry as the world's.

Conflict & violence

Germany

935 of its 3,221 stories (29%) were about people being harmed, usually 21%. Reports of people displaced ran at more than ten times the usual rate (12 stories). Outbreaks were named in 59 of its stories about harm, about 8 times usual, with flu. Its coverage was about one and a half times as warm as the world's.

Rights & justice

Cambodia

289 of its 405 stories (71%) were about people being harmed, usually 32%. Reports of people killed ran at about 5 times the usual rate (261 stories). Hunger was named in 227 of its stories about harm, about 6 times usual.

Protests & strikes

Netherlands

237 of its 512 stories (46%) were about people being harmed, usually 17%. 101 of Spijkenisse's 163 stories were about protests or strikes. Its coverage was about one and a half times as warm as the world's.

Conflict & violence

Türkiye

626 of its 827 stories (76%) were about people being harmed, usually 48%. Reports of evacuations ran at more than ten times the usual rate (5 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as angry as the world's. Grief in its coverage rose to about twice its own usual.

Also named far more than usual: hunger in Cambodia (227 of its stories, about 6 times its usual); hiv in Tanzania (35 of its stories, about three times its usual); road crashes in Palestine (66 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); drownings in Israel (76 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); avalanche in Kazakhstan (13 of its stories, more than ten times its usual).

23 in 100 stories were about harm

usually 22; 21 the day before
28 in 10019 in 10020 Jan27 Jan3 Feb10 Feb18 Feb20 Jan: 20 in 10021 Jan: 24 in 10022 Jan: 23 in 10023 Jan: 21 in 10024 Jan: 19 in 10025 Jan: 20 in 10026 Jan: 20 in 10027 Jan: 19 in 10028 Jan: 24 in 10029 Jan: 28 in 10030 Jan: 24 in 10031 Jan: 21 in 1001 Feb: 20 in 1002 Feb: 22 in 1003 Feb: 22 in 1004 Feb: 23 in 1005 Feb: 23 in 1006 Feb: 20 in 1007 Feb: 21 in 1008 Feb: 22 in 1009 Feb: 22 in 10010 Feb: 21 in 10011 Feb: 23 in 10012 Feb: 22 in 10013 Feb: 22 in 10014 Feb: 21 in 10015 Feb: 20 in 10016 Feb: 21 in 10017 Feb: 21 in 10018 Feb: 23 in 100 · this day

Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 18 Feb. 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 37,516 stories about harm among 161,024 counted on 18 Feb.

Read the day's briefing

Reports of evacuations ran at about three times the usual rate, most often about the US and Belgium. Stories about people being harmed made up 23 in every 100 of the day's 161,024 stories, above the usual 22. North Korea's news was 64% about people being harmed, against a usual 23%. For the second day running, the news turned to North Korea. Cambodia's news mentioned the hunger about 6 times as often as usual.

Written by code from the day's numbers.

Where it happened

feelings in full →
Feelings Events Harm Warmth
Torkham, Afghanistan -- protests & strikes: 86 stories, carried by 81 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Madrid, Spain -- accidents & disasters: 79 stories, carried by 85 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Maiduguri, Nigeria -- attacks & violence: 88 stories, carried by 88 outlets; harsh wording in 98 in 100Damascus, Syria -- attacks & violence: 139 stories, carried by 111 outlets; harsh wording in 97 in 100Kohima, India -- protests & strikes: 20 stories, carried by 138 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Caracas, Venezuela -- protests & strikes: 113 stories, carried by 95 outlets; harsh wording in 99 in 100Paris, France -- protests & strikes: 145 stories, carried by 133 outlets; harsh wording in 92 in 100Lal Shahbaz Qalandar, Pakistan -- attacks & violence: 153 stories, carried by 102 outlets; harsh wording in 99 in 100Kabul, Afghanistan -- attacks & violence: 122 stories, carried by 112 outlets; harsh wording in 98 in 100Istanbul, Türkiye -- people displaced: 276 stories, carried by 240 outlets; harsh wording in 99 in 100Munich, Germany -- attacks & violence: 648 stories, carried by 406 outlets; harsh wording in 48 in 100Queanbeyan, Australia -- accidents & disasters: 171 stories, carried by 146 outlets; harsh wording in 98 in 100Pine Island, Australia -- accidents & disasters: 12 stories, carried by 130 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Pyongyang, North Korea -- protests & strikes: 325 stories, carried by 265 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Dinka, South Sudan -- attacks & violence: 183 stories, carried by 165 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Sanliurfa, Türkiye -- attacks & violence: 120 stories, carried by 179 outlets; harsh wording in 99 in 100Barcelona, Spain -- protests & strikes: 241 stories, carried by 199 outlets; harsh wording in 93 in 100Raqqa, Syria -- attacks & violence: 220 stories, carried by 196 outlets; harsh wording in 95 in 100Moscow, Russia -- attacks & violence: 297 stories, carried by 392 outlets; harsh wording in 85 in 100Leuven, Belgium -- accidents & disasters: 276 stories, carried by 238 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Islamabad, Pakistan -- attacks & violence: 450 stories, carried by 292 outlets; harsh wording in 93 in 100Baghdad, Iraq -- attacks & violence: 324 stories, carried by 366 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Dallas, US -- protests & strikes: 425 stories, carried by 537 outlets; harsh wording in 96 in 100Los Angeles, US -- accidents & disasters: 1,159 stories, carried by 866 outlets; harsh wording in 96 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?

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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.