← 4 Feb Wednesday 5 February 2020 · to 23:59 UTC 6 Feb →
What the world's news said happened to people.
Counts of coverage, not of suffering
25,640 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 the avalanche in Türkiye, illness in Wuhan and violence in Idlib. Syria's coverage was about three times as angry as the world's. Language across the world's news ran much softer than usual.

Help and hope: reports of vaccination ran at about one and a half times the usual rate →
Part of lifeHealth 44 in 100 of the stories about harm · much more than usual Country that rose mostTürkiye 69 in 100 of its 678 stories, usually 34
RegionEast Asia 58 in 100 of its stories, usually 42
Tone of the words Much softer than usual across the world's stories about harm

What the world's news was about today

how these are picked →
Disasters & accidents

Türkiye

465 of its 678 stories (69%) were about people being harmed, usually 34%. Istanbul accounted for 222 of Türkiye's 465 stories about harm, carried by 557 outlets. Reports of evacuations ran at about 9 times the usual rate (27 stories). Avalanche was named in 163 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual, with storms, snowstorms and heavy rain. Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's.

Health

China

3,879 of its 5,706 stories (68%) were about people being harmed, usually 52%. Wuhan accounted for 1,899 of China's 3,879 stories about harm, carried by 1,595 outlets. Reports of refugees ran at about twice the usual rate (6 stories). Malaria was named in 19 of its stories about harm, about 4 times usual, with norovirus.

Conflict & violence

Syria

197 of its 257 stories (77%) were about people being harmed, usually 67%. Idlib accounted for 155 of Syria's 197 stories about harm, carried by 148 outlets. Reports of abductions ran at about three times the usual rate (5 stories). Its coverage was about three times as angry as the world's.

Rights & justice

El Salvador

37 of its 48 stories (77%) were about people being harmed, usually 43%. Reports of refugees ran at more than ten times the usual rate (19 stories). 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
Health

Vietnam

114 of its 263 stories (43%) were about people being harmed, usually 20%. Reports of people killed ran at about twice the usual rate (44 stories). Natural hazards were named in 12 of its stories about harm, about 6 times usual.

Health

Japan

354 of its 1,269 stories (28%) were about people being harmed, usually 15%. Reports of people displaced ran at about 9 times the usual rate (7 stories). Hurricane was named in 13 of its stories about harm, about 6 times usual.

Conflict & violence

Afghanistan

103 of its 169 stories (61%) were about people being harmed, usually 52%. Kabul accounted for 52 of Afghanistan's 103 stories about harm, carried by 75 outlets. Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's.

Protests & strikes

Algeria

15 of its 36 stories (42%) were about people being harmed, usually 26%. 3 of Algiers' 6 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of people injured ran at about twice the usual rate (5 stories).

Disasters & accidents

New Zealand

200 of its 771 stories (26%) were about people being harmed, usually 20%. Reports of evacuations ran at about 10 times the usual rate (26 stories). Flooding was named in 55 of its stories about harm, about 7 times usual.

Protests & strikes

Iraq

Baghdad accounted for 76 of Iraq's 117 stories about harm, carried by 182 outlets. 46 of Baghdad's 76 stories were about protests or strikes. Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's.

Also named far more than usual: illness in Philippines (98 of its stories, about 4 times its usual); flooding in New Zealand (55 of its stories, about 7 times its usual); bird flu in Saudi Arabia (13 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); natural hazards in Vietnam (12 of its stories, about 6 times its usual); hurricane in Japan (13 of its stories, about 6 times its usual).

20 in 100 stories were about harm

usually 20; 21 the day before
23 in 10017 in 1007 Jan14 Jan21 Jan28 Jan5 Feb7 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 1004 Feb: 21 in 1005 Feb: 20 in 100 · this day

Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 5 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 25,640 stories about harm among 125,220 counted on 5 Feb.

Read the day's briefing

Mentions of the avalanche ran more than ten times their usual in Türkiye's news. of the day's 125,220 news stories, 20 in every 100 were about people being harmed, as usual. Reports of vaccination, a sign of help, ran at about one and a half times the usual rate. Türkiye's news was 69% about people being harmed, against a usual 34%. A year earlier, on 5 February 2019, 19 in every 100 stories were about people being harmed, against 20 today.

Written by code from the day's numbers.

Where it happened

feelings in full →
Feelings Events Harm Warmth
Najaf, Iraq -- protests & strikes: 9 stories, carried by 13 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Shalteng, Kashmir -- attacks & violence: 15 stories, carried by 15 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Beirut, Lebanon -- protests & strikes: 17 stories, carried by 24 outlets; harsh wording in 94 in 100Berlin, Germany -- attacks & violence: 25 stories, carried by 53 outlets; harsh wording in 88 in 100Southern Cross, Australia -- deaths, cause not given: 6 stories, carried by 21 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Lake Chad, Nigeria -- attacks & violence: 15 stories, carried by 21 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Manila, Philippines -- disease & outbreaks: 67 stories, carried by 38 outlets; harsh wording in 88 in 100Michoacan, Mexico -- protests & strikes: 8 stories, carried by 33 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Caracas, Venezuela -- protests & strikes: 8 stories, carried by 29 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Philippine, Philippines -- disease & outbreaks: 108 stories, carried by 44 outlets; harsh wording in 89 in 100Mataura, New Zealand -- accidents & disasters: 35 stories, carried by 42 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Canberra, Australia -- accidents & disasters: 27 stories, carried by 68 outlets; harsh wording in 96 in 100Kabul, Afghanistan -- attacks & violence: 52 stories, carried by 75 outlets; harsh wording in 87 in 100Norfolk, US -- accidents & disasters: 29 stories, carried by 147 outlets; harsh wording in 83 in 100Monaghan, Ireland -- deaths, cause not given: 8 stories, carried by 123 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Tripoli, Libya -- attacks & violence: 30 stories, carried by 86 outlets; harsh wording in 93 in 100Battle Creek, US -- attacks & violence: 18 stories, carried by 121 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Ghouta, Syria -- attacks & violence: 19 stories, carried by 109 outlets; harsh wording in 95 in 100Jerusalem, Israel -- attacks & violence: 121 stories, carried by 137 outlets; harsh wording in 91 in 100Tehran, Iran -- attacks & violence: 69 stories, carried by 182 outlets; harsh wording in 93 in 100Idlib, Syria -- attacks & violence: 155 stories, carried by 148 outlets; harsh wording in 99 in 100Baghdad, Iraq -- protests & strikes: 76 stories, carried by 182 outlets; harsh wording in 96 in 100Anadolu, Türkiye -- accidents & disasters: 58 stories, carried by 219 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Istanbul, Türkiye -- accidents & disasters: 222 stories, carried by 557 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 softer than usual. Filled dot: today. Ring: usual.

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

The week in human impact

Read the week →

Unlock a year of trends, free. Follow up to 5 countries, with a bell when their news changes, and 👍 vote for Pro — ten years of the archive, any period, daily alerts.

Create a free account

Sign in · a username, an email and a password.

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.