← 19 Feb Thursday 20 February 2020 · to 23:59 UTC 21 Feb →
What the world's news said happened to people.
Counts of coverage, not of suffering
24,784 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 illness in Tehran, protests in Novi Sanzhary (Ukraine) and people injured in Germany. Germany's coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's. Over the whole world, the tone was about as usual.

Part of lifeHealth 38 in 100 of the stories about harm · less than usual Country that rose mostSouth Korea 49 in 100 of its 513 stories, usually 21
RegionEurope 20 in 100 of its stories, usually 18
Tone of the words About as usual across the world's stories about harm

What the world's news was about today

how these are picked →
Health

Iran

196 of its 377 stories (52%) were about people being harmed, usually 45%. Tehran accounted for 111 of Iran's 196 stories about harm, carried by 148 outlets. Reports of evacuations ran at about 9 times the usual rate (7 stories). Outbreaks were named in 44 of its stories about harm, about 6 times usual. Its coverage was about one and a half times as grief-stricken as the world's.

Protests & strikes

Ukraine

106 of its 296 stories (36%) were about people being harmed, usually 11%. 30 of Novi Sanzhary's 38 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of evacuations ran at more than ten times the usual rate (23 stories). Outbreaks were named in 37 of its stories about harm, about 5 times usual.

Conflict & violence

Germany

720 of its 1,628 stories (44%) were about people being harmed, usually 20%. Reports of people injured ran at more than ten times the usual rate (201 stories). Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's. Anger in its coverage rose to about twice its own usual.

6 more places the news pointed at
Health

Japan

513 of its 1,360 stories (38%) were about people being harmed, usually 23%. Tokyo accounted for 324 of Japan's 513 stories about harm, carried by 719 outlets. Reports of people falling ill ran at about 6 times the usual rate (34 stories). Ebola was named in 19 of its stories about harm, about 4 times usual.

Health

South Korea

252 of its 513 stories (49%) were about people being harmed, usually 21%. Seoul accounted for 169 of South Korea's 252 stories about harm, carried by 491 outlets. Respiratory illness was named in 56 of its stories about harm, about 4 times usual.

Protests & strikes

Argentina

7 of Buenos Aires' 9 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of people affected ran at about 4 times the usual rate (6 stories). Anger in its coverage rose to about one and a half times its own usual.

Health

Egypt

66 of its 215 stories (31%) were about people being harmed, usually 24%. Its coverage was about one and a half times as fearful as the world's.

Conflict & violence

Latvia

12 of its 33 stories (36%) were about people being harmed, usually 22%. Reports of people injured ran at about 5 times the usual rate (9 stories).

Rights & justice

Oman

11 of its 49 stories (22%) were about people being harmed, usually 12%. Reports of arrests ran at about 4 times the usual rate (6 stories).

Also named far more than usual: respiratory illness in South Korea (56 of its stories, about 4 times its usual); hunger in South Sudan (12 of its stories, about 6 times its usual); train derailment in Australia (68 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); hiv in Kenya (11 of its stories, about 4 times its usual); malaria in Nigeria (28 of its stories, about three times its usual).

20 in 100 stories were about harm

usually 21; 20 the day before
23 in 10018 in 10022 Jan29 Jan5 Feb12 Feb20 Feb22 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 10012 Feb: 20 in 10013 Feb: 20 in 10014 Feb: 20 in 10015 Feb: 22 in 10016 Feb: 23 in 10017 Feb: 21 in 10018 Feb: 20 in 10019 Feb: 20 in 10020 Feb: 20 in 100 · this day

Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 20 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 24,784 stories about harm among 125,024 counted on 20 Feb.

Read the day's briefing

Mentions of outbreaks ran about 5 times their usual in Ukraine's news. of the day's 125,024 news stories, 20 in every 100 were about people being harmed, as usual. On 20 February 2019, a year earlier, the share was 19 in every 100, against 20 today. Iran's news was 52% about people being harmed, against a usual 45%.

Written by code from the day's numbers.

Where it happened

feelings in full →
Feelings Events Harm Warmth
Jerusalem, Israel -- attacks & violence: 79 stories, carried by 70 outlets; harsh wording in 94 in 100Beirut, Lebanon -- protests & strikes: 11 stories, carried by 39 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Moscow, Russia -- attacks & violence: 87 stories, carried by 70 outlets; harsh wording in 94 in 100Tripoli, Libya -- attacks & violence: 37 stories, carried by 68 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Sanaa, Yemen -- attacks & violence: 22 stories, carried by 29 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Tirupur, India -- deaths, cause not given: 47 stories, carried by 36 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Novi Sanzhary, Ukraine -- protests & strikes: 38 stories, carried by 32 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Ankara, Türkiye -- attacks & violence: 38 stories, carried by 64 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Montreal, Canada -- accidents & disasters: 48 stories, carried by 110 outlets; harsh wording in 88 in 100Kabul, Afghanistan -- attacks & violence: 40 stories, carried by 63 outlets; harsh wording in 92 in 100Karlsruhe, Germany -- deaths, cause not given: 13 stories, carried by 69 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Quebec, Canada -- accidents & disasters: 43 stories, carried by 148 outlets; harsh wording in 88 in 100Juba, South Sudan -- attacks & violence: 19 stories, carried by 97 outlets; harsh wording in 74 in 100Kyiv, Ukraine -- protests & strikes: 23 stories, carried by 94 outlets; harsh wording in 96 in 100Mexico City, Mexico -- protests & strikes: 28 stories, carried by 91 outlets; harsh wording in 96 in 100Tehran, Iran -- disease & outbreaks: 111 stories, carried by 148 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Melbourne, Australia -- accidents & disasters: 118 stories, carried by 118 outlets; harsh wording in 91 in 100Capel Curig, UK -- accidents & disasters: 21 stories, carried by 138 outlets; harsh wording in 95 in 100River Wye, UK -- accidents & disasters: 87 stories, carried by 175 outlets; harsh wording in 79 in 100Miami, US -- accidents & disasters: 95 stories, carried by 266 outlets; harsh wording in 82 in 100Porterville, US -- accidents & disasters: 23 stories, carried by 195 outlets; harsh wording in 91 in 100Idlib, Syria -- attacks & violence: 205 stories, carried by 375 outlets; harsh wording in 96 in 100Berlin, Germany -- attacks & violence: 230 stories, carried by 641 outlets; harsh wording in 97 in 100Seoul, South Korea -- disease & outbreaks: 169 stories, carried by 491 outlets; harsh wording in 98 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 about as 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.