← 10 Feb Tuesday 11 February 2020 · to 23:59 UTC 12 Feb →
What the world's news said happened to people.
Counts of coverage, not of suffering
24,441 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 →

Violence in Darfur, drownings in Bangladesh and protests in Baghdad (Iraq) drew the news. Sudan's coverage was about three times as grief-stricken as the world's. Taken together, the world's news read much softer than usual.

Part of lifeHealth 41 in 100 of the stories about harm · much more than usual Country that rose mostSudan 73 in 100 of its 177 stories, usually 44
RegionEast Asia 55 in 100 of its stories, usually 49
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 →
Conflict & violence

Sudan

130 of its 177 stories (73%) were about people being harmed, usually 44%. Darfur accounted for 111 of Sudan's 130 stories about harm, carried by 170 outlets. Reports of arrests ran at about 7 times the usual rate (21 stories). Its coverage was about three times as grief-stricken as the world's.

Disasters & accidents

Bangladesh

135 of its 312 stories (43%) were about people being harmed, usually 28%. Reports of refugees ran at about 9 times the usual rate (79 stories). Drownings were named in 42 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual. Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's.

Protests & strikes

Iraq

Baghdad accounted for 102 of Iraq's 133 stories about harm, carried by 232 outlets. 65 of Baghdad's 102 stories were about protests or strikes. Storms were named in 24 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.

Health

Thailand

169 of its 329 stories (51%) were about people being harmed, usually 35%. Reports of arrests ran at about three times the usual rate (22 stories). Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's.

6 more places the news pointed at
Conflict & violence

Afghanistan

183 of its 251 stories (73%) were about people being harmed, usually 53%. Kabul accounted for 116 of Afghanistan's 183 stories about harm, carried by 240 outlets. Reports of abductions ran at about 8 times the usual rate (18 stories). Its coverage was about three times as grief-stricken as the world's. Anger in its coverage rose to about one and a half times its own usual.

Conflict & violence

Iran

Tehran accounted for 104 of Iran's 174 stories about harm, carried by 193 outlets. Reports of people injured ran at about twice the usual rate (30 stories). Illness was named in 39 of its stories about harm, about 8 times usual. Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's.

Conflict & violence

Syria

261 of its 320 stories (82%) were about people being harmed, usually 70%. Idlib accounted for 181 of Syria's 261 stories about harm, carried by 237 outlets. Its coverage was about three times as angry as the world's.

Health

Finland

32 of its 132 stories (24%) were about people being harmed, usually 14%. Reports of people affected ran at about three times the usual rate (8 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as fearful as the world's.

Health

UK

Reports of people falling ill ran at about three times the usual rate (7 stories). Snowstorms were named in 60 of its stories about harm, about 5 times usual, with tuberculosis and bird flu. Its coverage was about one and a half times as fearful as the world's.

Health

Hong Kong

90 of its 154 stories (58%) were about people being harmed, usually 39%. Reports of evacuations ran at more than ten times the usual rate (26 stories).

Also named far more than usual: outbreaks in Spain (67 of its stories, about 5 times its usual); illness in Iran (39 of its stories, about 8 times its usual); cyclone in Australia (52 of its stories, about three times its usual); storms in Germany (13 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); snowstorms in UK (60 of its stories, about 5 times its usual).

20 in 100 stories were about harm

usually 20; 21 the day before
23 in 10017 in 10013 Jan20 Jan27 Jan3 Feb11 Feb13 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 1006 Feb: 21 in 1007 Feb: 21 in 1008 Feb: 22 in 1009 Feb: 23 in 10010 Feb: 21 in 10011 Feb: 20 in 100 · this day

Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 11 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 24,441 stories about harm among 120,630 counted on 11 Feb.

Read the day's briefing

Mentions of outbreaks ran about 5 times their usual in Spain's news. of the day's 120,630 news stories, 20 in every 100 were about people being harmed, as usual. Sudan stood out: 73% of its news was about people being harmed, usually 44%. On 11 February 2019, a year earlier, the share was 18 in every 100, against 20 today.

Written by code from the day's numbers.

Where it happened

feelings in full →
Feelings Events Harm Warmth
Kidal, Mali -- attacks & violence: 7 stories, carried by 27 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Damascus, Syria -- attacks & violence: 24 stories, carried by 38 outlets; harsh wording in 92 in 100Dhaka, Bangladesh -- accidents & disasters: 54 stories, carried by 91 outlets; harsh wording in 80 in 100Tripoli, Libya -- attacks & violence: 16 stories, carried by 44 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Dalhousie, Canada -- protests & strikes: 11 stories, carried by 50 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Vancouver, Canada -- protests & strikes: 81 stories, carried by 104 outlets; harsh wording in 84 in 100Jerusalem, Israel -- attacks & violence: 114 stories, carried by 100 outlets; harsh wording in 89 in 100Madrid, Spain -- accidents & disasters: 16 stories, carried by 78 outlets; harsh wording in 94 in 100Maiduguri, Nigeria -- attacks & violence: 78 stories, carried by 63 outlets; harsh wording in 99 in 100Queensferry, UK -- accidents & disasters: 64 stories, carried by 100 outlets; harsh wording in 89 in 100Nakhon Ratchasima, Thailand -- attacks & violence: 50 stories, carried by 94 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Johannesburg, South Africa -- deaths, cause not given: 55 stories, carried by 233 outlets; harsh wording in 78 in 100Marib, Yemen -- people displaced: 7 stories, carried by 94 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Manchester, UK -- accidents & disasters: 129 stories, carried by 200 outlets; harsh wording in 88 in 100Barcelona, Spain -- disease & outbreaks: 73 stories, carried by 113 outlets; harsh wording in 84 in 100Tehran, Iran -- attacks & violence: 104 stories, carried by 193 outlets; harsh wording in 94 in 100Fort Riley, US -- attacks & violence: 11 stories, carried by 110 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Beirut, Lebanon -- protests & strikes: 55 stories, carried by 127 outlets; harsh wording in 98 in 100Anchorage, US -- accidents & disasters: 16 stories, carried by 129 outlets; harsh wording in 94 in 100Sydney, Australia -- accidents & disasters: 166 stories, carried by 245 outlets; harsh wording in 81 in 100Baghdad, Iraq -- protests & strikes: 102 stories, carried by 232 outlets; harsh wording in 97 in 100Darfur, Sudan -- attacks & violence: 111 stories, carried by 170 outlets; harsh wording in 98 in 100Idlib, Syria -- attacks & violence: 181 stories, carried by 237 outlets; harsh wording in 99 in 100Kabul, Afghanistan -- attacks & violence: 116 stories, carried by 240 outlets; harsh wording in 95 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.

● 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?

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.