← 2 Feb Monday 3 February 2020 · to 23:59 UTC 4 Feb →
What the world's news said happened to people.
Counts of coverage, not of suffering
22,321 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 Wuhan, violence in Amman and people injured in Tanzania drew the news. Jordan's coverage was about three times as fearful as the world's. Worldwide, the words used were softer than usual.

Reports of evacuations ran at about twice the usual rate, most often about China and Canada → Help and hope: reports of people freed or reunited ran at about one and a half times the usual rate →
Part of lifeHealth 45 in 100 of the stories about harm · much more than usual Country that rose mostChina 72 in 100 of its 6,145 stories, usually 49
RegionEast Asia 63 in 100 of its stories, usually 40
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

China

4,440 of its 6,145 stories (72%) were about people being harmed, usually 49%. Wuhan accounted for 2,383 of China's 4,440 stories about harm, carried by 1,989 outlets. Reports of evacuations ran at about twice the usual rate (348 stories). Food poisoning was named in 12 of its stories about harm, about 4 times usual.

Conflict & violence

Jordan

70 of its 187 stories (37%) were about people being harmed, usually 14%. Amman accounted for 63 of Jordan's 70 stories about harm, carried by 188 outlets. Reports of people injured ran at more than ten times the usual rate (17 stories). Its coverage was about three times as fearful as the world's.

Rights & justice

Tanzania

57 of its 114 stories (50%) were about people being harmed, usually 22%. Reports of people injured ran at about 5 times the usual rate (23 stories). Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's.

Disasters & accidents

Somalia

Reports of refugees ran at about three times the usual rate (6 stories). Natural hazards were named in 19 of its stories about harm, about 6 times usual. Its coverage was about one and a half times as fearful as the world's.

6 more places the news pointed at
Conflict & violence

Syria

248 of its 304 stories (82%) were about people being harmed, usually 65%. Idlib accounted for 207 of Syria's 248 stories about harm, carried by 337 outlets. Reports of people injured ran at about 5 times the usual rate (141 stories). Its coverage was about three times as angry as the world's.

Health

Taiwan

68 of its 144 stories (47%) were about people being harmed, usually 19%. Taipei accounted for 46 of Taiwan's 68 stories about harm, carried by 16 outlets. Reports of evacuations ran at more than ten times the usual rate (5 stories).

Health

Hong Kong

83 of its 158 stories (53%) were about people being harmed, usually 31%. Reports of people killed ran at about three times the usual rate (34 stories). Grief in its coverage rose to about one and a half times its own usual.

Conflict & violence

UK

Reports of people injured ran at about 4 times the usual rate (202 stories). Ebola was named in 13 of its stories about harm, about 4 times usual. Its coverage was about twice as fearful as the world's.

Protests & strikes

Iraq

35 of Baghdad's 47 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of abductions ran at about three times the usual rate (5 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as angry as the world's.

Health

Thailand

85 of its 212 stories (40%) were about people being harmed, usually 22%. Flu was named in 22 of its stories about harm, about 6 times usual.

Also named far more than usual: illness in Yemen (16 of its stories, about 4 times its usual); flu in Thailand (22 of its stories, about 6 times its usual); heavy rain in New Zealand (25 of its stories, about 6 times its usual); respiratory illness in Philippines (23 of its stories, about 5 times its usual); hunger in Australia (20 of its stories, about three times its usual).

21 in 100 stories were about harm

usually 20; 23 the day before
24 in 10017 in 1005 Jan12 Jan19 Jan26 Jan3 Feb5 Jan: 24 in 1006 Jan: 20 in 1007 Jan: 20 in 1008 Jan: 21 in 1009 Jan: 20 in 10010 Jan: 21 in 10011 Jan: 23 in 10012 Jan: 22 in 10013 Jan: 19 in 10014 Jan: 19 in 10015 Jan: 18 in 10016 Jan: 17 in 10017 Jan: 18 in 10018 Jan: 20 in 10019 Jan: 20 in 10020 Jan: 18 in 10021 Jan: 19 in 10022 Jan: 18 in 10023 Jan: 19 in 10024 Jan: 20 in 10025 Jan: 21 in 10026 Jan: 22 in 10027 Jan: 20 in 10028 Jan: 20 in 10029 Jan: 20 in 10030 Jan: 20 in 10031 Jan: 21 in 1001 Feb: 21 in 1002 Feb: 23 in 1003 Feb: 21 in 100 · this day

Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 3 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 22,321 stories about harm among 105,192 counted on 3 Feb.

Read the day's briefing

For the eighth day running, the news turned to China. Stories about people being harmed made up 21 in every 100 of the day's 105,192 stories, above the usual 20. Help and hope: reports of people freed or reunited ran at about one and a half times the usual rate. Evacuations were reported at about twice the usual rate, most often about China and Canada. Thailand's news mentioned the flu 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
Istanbul, Türkiye -- attacks & violence: 26 stories, carried by 30 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Bangkok, Thailand -- disease & outbreaks: 43 stories, carried by 44 outlets; harsh wording in 63 in 100Beirut, Lebanon -- protests & strikes: 22 stories, carried by 39 outlets; harsh wording in 82 in 100Yalgo, Burkina Faso -- attacks & violence: 10 stories, carried by 19 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100El Rosario, Mexico -- protests & strikes: 6 stories, carried by 23 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Silgadji, Burkina Faso -- attacks & violence: 8 stories, carried by 22 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Arabian Peninsula, Saudi Arabia -- attacks & violence: 19 stories, carried by 27 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Guysborough, Canada -- attacks & violence: 6 stories, carried by 46 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Trenton, Canada -- people displaced: 23 stories, carried by 68 outlets; harsh wording in 83 in 100Lesbos, Greece -- protests & strikes: 9 stories, carried by 33 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Al-Azhar, Saudi Arabia -- attacks & violence: 5 stories, carried by 40 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Sydney, Australia -- accidents & disasters: 123 stories, carried by 123 outlets; harsh wording in 88 in 100Kakamega, Kenya -- deaths, cause not given: 40 stories, carried by 56 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Thurles, Ireland -- deaths, cause not given: 8 stories, carried by 55 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Baghdad, Iraq -- protests & strikes: 47 stories, carried by 76 outlets; harsh wording in 96 in 100Jerusalem, Israel -- attacks & violence: 107 stories, carried by 119 outlets; harsh wording in 80 in 100Canberra, Australia -- accidents & disasters: 49 stories, carried by 94 outlets; harsh wording in 82 in 100Texas, US -- deaths, cause not given: 118 stories, carried by 244 outlets; harsh wording in 83 in 100Dallas, US -- deaths, cause not given: 117 stories, carried by 303 outlets; harsh wording in 91 in 100Kabul, Afghanistan -- attacks & violence: 33 stories, carried by 184 outlets; harsh wording in 91 in 100Tehran, Iran -- attacks & violence: 119 stories, carried by 342 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Amman, Jordan -- attacks & violence: 63 stories, carried by 188 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Idlib, Syria -- attacks & violence: 207 stories, carried by 337 outlets; harsh wording in 97 in 100London, UK -- attacks & violence: 712 stories, carried by 1,087 outlets; harsh wording in 87 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.

● Angera little less than usual
● Warmthabout as usual
● Griefa little less than 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?

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.