← 22 Feb Sunday 23 February 2020 · to 23:59 UTC 24 Feb →
What the world's news said happened to people.
Counts of coverage, not of suffering
11,968 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 earthquake in Iran, evacuations in Israel and people injured in Türkiye drew the news. Türkiye's coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's. Across the world, the tone of the words was harsher than usual.

Part of lifeHealth 38 in 100 of the stories about harm · less than usual Country that rose mostSouth Korea 62 in 100 of its 415 stories, usually 26
RegionMiddle East & North Africa 43 in 100 of its stories, usually 34
Tone of the words Harsher than usual across the world's stories about harm

What the world's news was about today

how these are picked →
Health

Iran

322 of its 488 stories (66%) were about people being harmed, usually 45%. Tehran accounted for 186 of Iran's 322 stories about harm, carried by 337 outlets. Reports of refugees ran at about 8 times the usual rate (13 stories). Earthquake was named in 59 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual, with avalanche. Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's.

Conflict & violence

Israel

244 of its 550 stories (44%) were about people being harmed, usually 30%. Reports of evacuations ran at about three times the usual rate (7 stories). Respiratory illness was named in 18 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual. Its coverage was about one and a half times as fearful as the world's.

Disasters & accidents

Türkiye

146 of its 224 stories (65%) were about people being harmed, usually 41%. Reports of people injured ran at about three times the usual rate (92 stories). Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's.

6 more places the news pointed at
Health

South Korea

258 of its 415 stories (62%) were about people being harmed, usually 26%. Seoul accounted for 140 of South Korea's 258 stories about harm, carried by 239 outlets. Reports of people killed ran at about 5 times the usual rate (170 stories). Flu was named in 42 of its stories about harm, about 10 times usual.

Health

Japan

228 of its 547 stories (42%) were about people being harmed, usually 25%. Reports of people killed ran at about twice the usual rate (99 stories). Respiratory illness was named in 26 of its stories about harm, about three times usual.

Disasters & accidents

Indonesia

52 of its 106 stories (49%) were about people being harmed, usually 35%. Reports of people injured ran at about 6 times the usual rate (7 stories). Flooding was named in 18 of its stories about harm, about 5 times usual.

Conflict & violence

Libya

31 of its 52 stories (60%) were about people being harmed, usually 42%. Tripoli accounted for 24 of Libya's 31 stories about harm, carried by 26 outlets. Its coverage was about one and a half times as angry as the world's.

Conflict & violence

South Sudan

34 of its 54 stories (63%) were about people being harmed, usually 50%. Reports of people displaced ran at about twice the usual rate (14 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as warm as the world's. Anger in its coverage rose to about one and a half times its own usual.

Protests & strikes

Kazakhstan

6 of its 11 stories (55%) were about people being harmed, usually 23%. 5 of Almaty's 5 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of arrests ran at about twice the usual rate (5 stories).

Also named far more than usual: flooding in Ireland (44 of its stories, about three times its usual); flooding in Indonesia (18 of its stories, about 5 times its usual); flu in South Korea (42 of its stories, about 10 times its usual); respiratory illness in Japan (26 of its stories, about three times its usual); drownings in New Zealand (12 of its stories, more than ten times its usual).

21 in 100 stories were about harm

usually 21; 21 the day before
23 in 10020 in 10025 Jan1 Feb8 Feb15 Feb23 Feb25 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 10022 Feb: 21 in 10023 Feb: 21 in 100 · this day

Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 23 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 11,968 stories about harm among 55,965 counted on 23 Feb.

Read the day's briefing

Mentions of flooding ran about three times their usual in Ireland's news. of the day's 55,965 news stories, 21 in every 100 were about people being harmed, as usual. Iran stood out: 66% of its news was about people being harmed, usually 45%. On 23 February 2019, a year earlier, the share was 22 in every 100, against 21 today. This week the news turned most often to Ukraine, on 3 of 7 days.

Written by code from the day's numbers.

Where it happened

feelings in full →
Feelings Events Harm Warmth
Skopje, North Macedonia -- deaths, cause not given: 8 stories, carried by 39 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Sanaa, Yemen -- attacks & violence: 15 stories, carried by 20 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Tripoli, Libya -- attacks & violence: 24 stories, carried by 26 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Gaza, Palestine -- attacks & violence: 20 stories, carried by 25 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Garkida, Nigeria -- attacks & violence: 28 stories, carried by 23 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Nairobi, Kenya -- attacks & violence: 12 stories, carried by 67 outlets; harsh wording in 92 in 100Iwo Jima, Japan -- attacks & violence: 18 stories, carried by 39 outlets; harsh wording in 89 in 100Baghdad, Iraq -- protests & strikes: 21 stories, carried by 45 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Ankara, Türkiye -- accidents & disasters: 12 stories, carried by 60 outlets; harsh wording in 92 in 100Salmas, Iran -- accidents & disasters: 24 stories, carried by 34 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Dinka, South Sudan -- attacks & violence: 5 stories, carried by 44 outlets; harsh wording in 80 in 100Quebec, Canada -- protests & strikes: 10 stories, carried by 51 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Idlib, Syria -- attacks & violence: 61 stories, carried by 60 outlets; harsh wording in 97 in 100Sydney, Australia -- accidents & disasters: 104 stories, carried by 108 outlets; harsh wording in 71 in 100Kabul, Afghanistan -- attacks & violence: 58 stories, carried by 60 outlets; harsh wording in 95 in 100Tenerife, Spain -- accidents & disasters: 7 stories, carried by 140 outlets; harsh wording in 86 in 100Bristol, UK -- accidents & disasters: 35 stories, carried by 162 outlets; harsh wording in 91 in 100Yorkshire, UK -- accidents & disasters: 23 stories, carried by 132 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100San Diego, US -- deaths, cause not given: 44 stories, carried by 197 outlets; harsh wording in 91 in 100Ahmedabad, India -- attacks & violence: 31 stories, carried by 236 outlets; harsh wording in 97 in 100New Orleans, US -- deaths, cause not given: 25 stories, carried by 216 outlets; harsh wording in 92 in 100Tokyo, Japan -- disease & outbreaks: 131 stories, carried by 249 outlets; harsh wording in 89 in 100Elazig, Türkiye -- accidents & disasters: 27 stories, carried by 235 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Seoul, South Korea -- disease & outbreaks: 140 stories, carried by 239 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 harsher than usual. Filled dot: today. Ring: usual.

● Angerabout as usual
● Warmthabout as usual
● Griefa little more 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

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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.