← 24 Feb Sunday 25 February 2018 · to 23:59 UTC 26 Feb →
What the world's news said happened to people.
Counts of coverage, not of suffering
25,419 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 →

Illness in Reykjavik, the avalanche in Switzerland and the cyclone in Bangladesh drew the news. Azerbaijan's coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's. Across the world, the tone of the words was softer than usual.

Reports of evacuations ran at about three times the usual rate, most often about the US and South Korea → Help and hope: reports of volunteers ran at about twice the usual rate →
Part of lifeRights & justice 27 in 100 of the stories about harm · about as usual Country that rose mostIceland 69 in 100 of its 185 stories, usually 22
RegionSub-Saharan Africa 34 in 100 of its stories, usually 28
Tone of the words Softer than usual across the world's stories about harm

What the world's news was about today

how these are picked →
Health

Iceland

127 of its 185 stories (69%) were about people being harmed, usually 22%. Reykjavik accounted for 97 of Iceland's 127 stories about harm, carried by 104 outlets. HIV was named in 118 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual. Its coverage was about one and a half times as warm as the world's. Anger in its coverage rose to about twice its own usual.

Disasters & accidents

Switzerland

84 of its 278 stories (30%) were about people being harmed, usually 15%. Reports of people injured ran at more than ten times the usual rate (44 stories). Avalanche was named in 46 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual. Its coverage was about one and a half times as grief-stricken as the world's.

Rights & justice

Bangladesh

337 of its 585 stories (58%) were about people being harmed, usually 44%. Reports of abductions ran at about 9 times the usual rate (37 stories). Cyclone was named in 38 of its stories about harm, about 4 times usual. Its coverage was about twice as fearful as the world's.

Conflict & violence

Azerbaijan

26 of its 65 stories (40%) were about people being harmed, usually 14%. Reports of people injured ran at more than ten times the usual rate (10 stories). 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.

6 more places the news pointed at
Conflict & violence

Syria

1,455 of its 1,674 stories (87%) were about people being harmed, usually 74%. Ghouta accounted for 1,240 of Syria's 1,455 stories about harm, carried by 730 outlets. Its coverage was about twice as fearful as the world's.

Conflict & violence

Iraq

245 of its 366 stories (67%) were about people being harmed, usually 53%. Baghdad accounted for 159 of Iraq's 245 stories about harm, carried by 178 outlets. Reports of arrests ran at about 5 times the usual rate (67 stories).

Conflict & violence

Somalia

150 of its 189 stories (79%) were about people being harmed, usually 65%. Mogadishu accounted for 134 of Somalia's 150 stories about harm, carried by 86 outlets. Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's. Fear in its coverage rose to about one and a half times its own usual.

Protests & strikes

Sierra Leone

19 of its 31 stories (61%) were about people being harmed, usually 35%. 13 of Freetown's 14 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of people killed ran at about twice the usual rate (14 stories).

Displacement

Jordan

113 of its 355 stories (32%) were about people being harmed, usually 23%. Reports of people affected ran at about 4 times the usual rate (97 stories). Its coverage was about twice as fearful as the world's.

Conflict & violence

Yemen

95 of its 112 stories (85%) were about people being harmed, usually 74%. Reports of evacuations ran at more than ten times the usual rate (23 stories). Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's.

Also named far more than usual: landslides in Papua New Guinea (32 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); road crashes in Brazil (18 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); outbreaks in Germany (19 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); tornadoes in US (887 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); flu in Russia (19 of its stories, more than ten times its usual).

23 in 100 stories were about harm

usually 21; 24 the day before
24 in 10019 in 10027 Jan3 Feb10 Feb17 Feb25 Feb27 Jan: 23 in 10028 Jan: 24 in 10029 Jan: 20 in 10030 Jan: 19 in 10031 Jan: 20 in 1001 Feb: 19 in 1002 Feb: 20 in 1003 Feb: 22 in 1004 Feb: 22 in 1005 Feb: 19 in 1006 Feb: 20 in 1007 Feb: 19 in 1008 Feb: 19 in 1009 Feb: 19 in 10010 Feb: 22 in 10011 Feb: 23 in 10012 Feb: 21 in 10013 Feb: 20 in 10014 Feb: 19 in 10015 Feb: 22 in 10016 Feb: 20 in 10017 Feb: 23 in 10018 Feb: 24 in 10019 Feb: 22 in 10020 Feb: 21 in 10021 Feb: 23 in 10022 Feb: 22 in 10023 Feb: 22 in 10024 Feb: 24 in 10025 Feb: 23 in 100 · this day

Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 25 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 25,419 stories about harm among 111,876 counted on 25 Feb.

Read the day's briefing

In Iceland, 69% of the news was about people being harmed, where 22% is usual. Stories about people being harmed made up 23 in every 100 of the day's 111,876 stories, above the usual 21. Help and hope: reports of volunteers ran at about twice the usual rate. Evacuations were reported at about three times the usual rate, most often about the US and South Korea. Iceland's news mentioned HIV more than ten times as often as usual. This week the news turned most often to Syria, on 3 of 7 days; help rose on 2 of them.

Written by code from the day's numbers.

Where it happened

feelings in full →
Feelings Events Harm Warmth
Sanaa, Yemen -- attacks & violence: 31 stories, carried by 37 outlets; harsh wording in 97 in 100Buenos Aires, Argentina -- accidents & disasters: 37 stories, carried by 36 outlets; harsh wording in 97 in 100Porgera, Papua New Guinea -- accidents & disasters: 42 stories, carried by 36 outlets; harsh wording in 93 in 100Islamabad, Pakistan -- attacks & violence: 111 stories, carried by 55 outlets; harsh wording in 96 in 100Moscow, Russia -- attacks & violence: 101 stories, carried by 80 outlets; harsh wording in 97 in 100Cairo, Egypt -- attacks & violence: 79 stories, carried by 63 outlets; harsh wording in 97 in 100Arolla, Switzerland -- accidents & disasters: 48 stories, carried by 45 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Rome, Italy -- protests & strikes: 57 stories, carried by 66 outlets; harsh wording in 98 in 100Amman, Jordan -- people displaced: 58 stories, carried by 57 outlets; harsh wording in 93 in 100Kabul, Afghanistan -- attacks & violence: 86 stories, carried by 61 outlets; harsh wording in 98 in 100Canberra, Australia -- accidents & disasters: 67 stories, carried by 66 outlets; harsh wording in 94 in 100Gaza, Palestine -- attacks & violence: 78 stories, carried by 75 outlets; harsh wording in 95 in 100Omagh, UK -- attacks & violence: 17 stories, carried by 86 outlets; harsh wording in 94 in 100Leicester, UK -- accidents & disasters: 84 stories, carried by 107 outlets; harsh wording in 99 in 100Afrin, Syria -- attacks & violence: 113 stories, carried by 159 outlets; harsh wording in 71 in 100Mogadishu, Somalia -- attacks & violence: 134 stories, carried by 86 outlets; harsh wording in 98 in 100Reykjavik, Iceland -- disease & outbreaks: 97 stories, carried by 104 outlets; harsh wording in 98 in 100Mexico City, Mexico -- accidents & disasters: 153 stories, carried by 175 outlets; harsh wording in 97 in 100Chibok, Nigeria -- attacks & violence: 84 stories, carried by 211 outlets; harsh wording in 99 in 100Baghdad, Iraq -- attacks & violence: 159 stories, carried by 178 outlets; harsh wording in 99 in 100Dapchi, Nigeria -- attacks & violence: 275 stories, carried by 331 outlets; harsh wording in 98 in 100Ohio River, US -- accidents & disasters: 107 stories, carried by 334 outlets; harsh wording in 98 in 100Kankakee, US -- accidents & disasters: 350 stories, carried by 370 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Ghouta, Syria -- attacks & violence: 1,240 stories, carried by 730 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 softer than usual. Filled dot: today. Ring: usual.

● Angerabout as 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?

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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.