← 16 Feb Sunday 17 February 2019 · to 23:59 UTC 18 Feb →
What the world's news said happened to people.
Counts of coverage, not of suffering
20,267 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 protests in Tunis (Tunisia), people displaced in Bangladesh and rights and justice in Filanbanco. Bangladesh's coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's. Across the world, the tone of the words was much harsher than usual.

Reports of abductions ran at about three times the usual rate, most often about the US and Palestine → Help and hope: reports of people freed or reunited ran at about three times the usual rate →
Part of lifeConflict & violence 31 in 100 of the stories about harm · much more than usual Country that rose mostPakistan 55 in 100 of its 1,257 stories, usually 31
RegionSouth Asia 44 in 100 of its stories, usually 24
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

Tunisia

35 of its 49 stories (71%) were about people being harmed, usually 42%. Tunis accounted for 32 of Tunisia's 35 stories about harm, carried by 19 outlets. 23 of Tunis' 32 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of abductions ran at about 9 times the usual rate (9 stories).

Disasters & accidents

Bangladesh

178 of its 396 stories (45%) were about people being harmed, usually 34%. Reports of people displaced ran at about three times the usual rate (13 stories). Heavy rain was named in 16 of its stories about harm, about three times usual, with malaria. 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.

6 more places the news pointed at
Protests & strikes

Libya

Tripoli accounted for 85 of Libya's 93 stories about harm, carried by 79 outlets. 69 of Tripoli's 85 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of abductions ran at more than ten times the usual rate (58 stories). Drownings were named in 16 of its stories about harm, about three times usual.

Protests & strikes

Haiti

77 of its 118 stories (65%) were about people being harmed, usually 35%. 49 of Port-au-Prince's 50 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of evacuations ran at more than ten times the usual rate (23 stories).

Conflict & violence

India

1,714 of its 4,669 stories (37%) were about people being harmed, usually 19%. Reports of people killed ran at about three times the usual rate (931 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as fearful as the world's.

Conflict & violence

Kashmir

580 of its 770 stories (75%) were about people being harmed, usually 57%. Pulwama accounted for 306 of Kashmir's 580 stories about harm, carried by 79 outlets. Its coverage was about twice as fearful as the world's.

Conflict & violence

Egypt

149 of its 323 stories (46%) were about people being harmed, usually 27%. Reports of people injured ran at about three times the usual rate (10 stories). Its coverage was about three times as fearful as the world's.

Displacement

Greece

59 of its 144 stories (41%) were about people being harmed, usually 20%. Reports of refugees ran at more than ten times the usual rate (34 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as warm as the world's.

Also named far more than usual: heavy rain in Zimbabwe (78 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); natural hazards in Puerto Rico (17 of its stories, about 6 times its usual); hunger in UK (185 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); avalanche in Brazil (12 of its stories, about 5 times its usual); drownings in Libya (16 of its stories, about three times its usual).

21 in 100 stories were about harm

usually 20; 22 the day before
22 in 10018 in 10019 Jan26 Jan2 Feb9 Feb17 Feb19 Jan: 21 in 10020 Jan: 21 in 10021 Jan: 20 in 10022 Jan: 19 in 10023 Jan: 18 in 10024 Jan: 18 in 10025 Jan: 19 in 10026 Jan: 20 in 10027 Jan: 21 in 10028 Jan: 20 in 10029 Jan: 21 in 10030 Jan: 20 in 10031 Jan: 19 in 1001 Feb: 18 in 1002 Feb: 21 in 1003 Feb: 20 in 1004 Feb: 20 in 1005 Feb: 19 in 1006 Feb: 19 in 1007 Feb: 19 in 1008 Feb: 18 in 1009 Feb: 20 in 10010 Feb: 19 in 10011 Feb: 18 in 10012 Feb: 18 in 10013 Feb: 18 in 10014 Feb: 19 in 10015 Feb: 20 in 10016 Feb: 22 in 10017 Feb: 21 in 100 · this day

Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 17 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 20,267 stories about harm among 96,338 counted on 17 Feb.

Read the day's briefing

On the side of help, reports of people freed or reunited ran at about three times the usual rate. Stories about people being harmed made up 21 in every 100 of the day's 96,338 stories, above the usual 20. Abductions were reported at about three times the usual rate, most often about the US and Palestine. In Tunisia, 71% of the news was about people being harmed, where 42% is usual. On 17 February 2018, a year earlier, the share was 23 in every 100, against 21 today. This week the news turned most often to Haiti, 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
Winnipeg, Canada -- accidents & disasters: 19 stories, carried by 39 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Quintana Roo, Mexico -- attacks & violence: 37 stories, carried by 37 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Dehradun, India -- attacks & violence: 53 stories, carried by 39 outlets; harsh wording in 98 in 100Montreal, Canada -- protests & strikes: 41 stories, carried by 88 outlets; harsh wording in 80 in 100Sanaa, Yemen -- attacks & violence: 41 stories, carried by 42 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Port-au-Prince, Haiti -- protests & strikes: 50 stories, carried by 43 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Hajin, Syria -- attacks & violence: 45 stories, carried by 46 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Jerusalem, Israel -- attacks & violence: 258 stories, carried by 105 outlets; harsh wording in 95 in 100Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates -- attacks & violence: 58 stories, carried by 58 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Riyadh, Saudi Arabia -- attacks & violence: 87 stories, carried by 79 outlets; harsh wording in 89 in 100Dhaka, Bangladesh -- accidents & disasters: 70 stories, carried by 90 outlets; harsh wording in 94 in 100Kabul, Afghanistan -- attacks & violence: 55 stories, carried by 72 outlets; harsh wording in 95 in 100Tripoli, Libya -- protests & strikes: 85 stories, carried by 79 outlets; harsh wording in 96 in 100Pulwama, Kashmir -- attacks & violence: 306 stories, carried by 79 outlets; harsh wording in 97 in 100Jammu, Kashmir -- attacks & violence: 222 stories, carried by 79 outlets; harsh wording in 98 in 100Northern Ireland, UK -- attacks & violence: 67 stories, carried by 154 outlets; harsh wording in 91 in 100Delhi, India -- attacks & violence: 390 stories, carried by 156 outlets; harsh wording in 97 in 100Oswego, US -- attacks & violence: 167 stories, carried by 267 outlets; harsh wording in 98 in 100Damascus, Syria -- attacks & violence: 173 stories, carried by 213 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Islamabad, Pakistan -- attacks & violence: 396 stories, carried by 275 outlets; harsh wording in 71 in 100Paris, France -- protests & strikes: 213 stories, carried by 276 outlets; harsh wording in 96 in 100Tehran, Iran -- attacks & violence: 195 stories, carried by 194 outlets; harsh wording in 98 in 100London, UK -- attacks & violence: 484 stories, carried by 493 outlets; harsh wording in 90 in 100Gloucester County, US -- protests & strikes: 194 stories, carried by 305 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 one and a half times usual
● Warmthabout as usual
● Griefabout as usual
● Feara little more than 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.