← 20 Feb Friday 21 February 2020 · to 23:59 UTC 22 Feb →
What the world's news said happened to people.
Counts of coverage, not of suffering
22,958 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 protests in Novi Sanzhary (Ukraine), illness in Seoul and refugees in Germany. Germany's coverage was about twice as angry as the world's. In the world's news as a whole, the wording was softer than usual.

Part of lifeHealth 39 in 100 of the stories about harm · about as usual Country that rose mostUkraine 44 in 100 of its 310 stories, usually 11
RegionMiddle East & North Africa 40 in 100 of its stories, usually 34
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 →
Protests & strikes

Ukraine

135 of its 310 stories (44%) were about people being harmed, usually 11%. 59 of Novi Sanzhary's 65 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of evacuations ran at more than ten times the usual rate (25 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as angry as the world's. Fear in its coverage rose to about one and a half times its own usual.

Health

South Korea

333 of its 716 stories (47%) were about people being harmed, usually 23%. Seoul accounted for 198 of South Korea's 333 stories about harm, carried by 538 outlets. Reports of people killed ran at about twice the usual rate (110 stories). Road crashes were named in 23 of its stories about harm, about 6 times usual.

Rights & justice

Germany

363 of its 1,096 stories (33%) were about people being harmed, usually 22%. Reports of refugees ran at about 5 times the usual rate (28 stories). Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's.

Conflict & violence

Saudi Arabia

80 of its 233 stories (34%) were about people being harmed, usually 22%. Reports of people affected ran at about twice the usual rate (6 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as angry as the world's.

6 more places the news pointed at
Health

Iran

301 of its 515 stories (58%) were about people being harmed, usually 44%. Tehran accounted for 190 of Iran's 301 stories about harm, carried by 459 outlets. Reports of evacuations ran at about 8 times the usual rate (11 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as grief-stricken as the world's.

Conflict & violence

Libya

57 of its 106 stories (54%) were about people being harmed, usually 40%. Tripoli accounted for 47 of Libya's 57 stories about harm, carried by 67 outlets. Its coverage was about one and a half times as fearful as the world's.

Conflict & violence

South Sudan

48 of its 81 stories (59%) were about people being harmed, usually 47%. Reports of refugees ran at about twice the usual rate (6 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as fearful as the world's.

Health

Australia

Reports of evacuations ran at about twice the usual rate (48 stories). Train derailment was named in 44 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual. Grief in its coverage rose to about one and a half times its own usual.

Health

Vietnam

124 of its 262 stories (47%) were about people being harmed, usually 33%. Reports of arrests ran at about 4 times the usual rate (13 stories).

Rights & justice

Myanmar

18 of its 35 stories (51%) were about people being harmed, usually 35%. Reports of arrests ran at about 4 times the usual rate (5 stories).

Also named far more than usual: flooding in Indonesia (15 of its stories, about three times its usual); dengue in Singapore (10 of its stories, about 9 times its usual); hiv in Kenya (10 of its stories, about three times its usual); train derailment in Australia (44 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); poisoning in Japan (12 of its stories, more than ten times its usual).

20 in 100 stories were about harm

usually 21; 20 the day before
23 in 10019 in 10023 Jan30 Jan6 Feb13 Feb21 Feb23 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 10021 Feb: 20 in 100 · this day

Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 21 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 22,958 stories about harm among 114,541 counted on 21 Feb.

Read the day's briefing

In Ukraine, 44% of the news was about people being harmed, where 11% is usual. Stories about people being harmed made up 20 in every 100 of the day's 114,541 stories, as usual. It was the second day running that the news turned to Ukraine. In Indonesia's news, mentions of flooding ran about three times their usual. A year earlier, on 21 February 2019, 20 in every 100 stories were about people being harmed, the same as today.

Written by code from the day's numbers.

Where it happened

feelings in full →
Feelings Events Harm Warmth
Hindustan, Pakistan -- protests & strikes: 16 stories, carried by 16 outlets; harsh wording in 94 in 100Limassol, Cyprus -- attacks & violence: 5 stories, carried by 22 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Brumadinho, Brazil -- accidents & disasters: 17 stories, carried by 21 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Chikkamagaluru, India -- protests & strikes: 20 stories, carried by 17 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Seletar, Singapore -- disease & outbreaks: 38 stories, carried by 22 outlets; harsh wording in 95 in 100Istanbul, Türkiye -- accidents & disasters: 23 stories, carried by 56 outlets; harsh wording in 87 in 100Algiers, Algeria -- protests & strikes: 10 stories, carried by 25 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Islamabad, Pakistan -- attacks & violence: 86 stories, carried by 52 outlets; harsh wording in 90 in 100Kyiv, Ukraine -- protests & strikes: 27 stories, carried by 47 outlets; harsh wording in 96 in 100Riyadh, Saudi Arabia -- attacks & violence: 44 stories, carried by 58 outlets; harsh wording in 95 in 100Jalisco, Mexico -- attacks & violence: 12 stories, carried by 52 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Melbourne, Australia -- accidents & disasters: 86 stories, carried by 61 outlets; harsh wording in 85 in 100Ankara, Türkiye -- attacks & violence: 35 stories, carried by 41 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Yogyakarta, Indonesia -- accidents & disasters: 15 stories, carried by 37 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Tripoli, Libya -- attacks & violence: 47 stories, carried by 67 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Baghdad, Iraq -- protests & strikes: 21 stories, carried by 77 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Bengaluru, India -- protests & strikes: 127 stories, carried by 62 outlets; harsh wording in 98 in 100Farne Islands, UK -- accidents & disasters: 5 stories, carried by 95 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Fort William, UK -- accidents & disasters: 15 stories, carried by 106 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Riverbend, US -- protests & strikes: 24 stories, carried by 164 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Novi Sanzhary, Ukraine -- protests & strikes: 65 stories, carried by 144 outlets; harsh wording in 98 in 100Idlib, Syria -- attacks & violence: 209 stories, carried by 245 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Central Valley, US -- protests & strikes: 30 stories, carried by 212 outlets; harsh wording in 97 in 100Kabul, Afghanistan -- attacks & violence: 134 stories, carried by 461 outlets; harsh wording in 93 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.

● 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

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.