← 15 Feb Tuesday 16 February 2021 · to 23:59 UTC 17 Feb →
What the world's news said happened to people.
Counts of coverage, not of suffering
25,256 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 →

Most of the day's attention went to protests in Yangon (Myanmar), illness in Pyongyang and violence in Erbil. Iraq's coverage was about 4 times as angry as the world's. Taken together, the world's news read about as usual.

Part of lifeHealth 50 in 100 of the stories about harm · much less than usual Country that rose mostNorth Korea 73 in 100 of its 104 stories, usually 29
RegionNorth America 34 in 100 of its stories, usually 31
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 →
Protests & strikes

Myanmar

141 of its 174 stories (81%) were about people being harmed, usually 64%. Yangon accounted for 79 of Myanmar's 141 stories about harm, carried by 148 outlets. 78 of Yangon's 79 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of people injured ran at about three times the usual rate (22 stories). Natural hazards were named in 24 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual.

Health

North Korea

76 of its 104 stories (73%) were about people being harmed, usually 29%. Pyongyang accounted for 34 of North Korea's 76 stories about harm, carried by 61 outlets. Reports of people killed ran at about twice the usual rate (14 stories). Outbreaks were named in 30 of its stories about harm, about 5 times usual.

Conflict & violence

Iraq

183 of its 257 stories (71%) were about people being harmed, usually 52%. Erbil accounted for 106 of Iraq's 183 stories about harm, carried by 196 outlets. Reports of people injured ran at about twice the usual rate (116 stories). Its coverage was about 4 times as angry as the world's.

Disasters & accidents

Greece

97 of its 210 stories (46%) were about people being harmed, usually 30%. Athens accounted for 67 of Greece's 97 stories about harm, carried by 167 outlets. Reports of refugees ran at about 4 times the usual rate (7 stories). Extreme cold was named in 15 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual, with power cuts.

6 more places the news pointed at
Disasters & accidents

U.S. Virgin Islands

16 of its 26 stories (62%) were about people being harmed, usually 32%. Reports of people killed ran at about 5 times the usual rate (16 stories). Helicopter crash was named in 14 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual. Its coverage was about one and a half times as grief-stricken as the world's.

Conflict & violence

Bangladesh

94 of its 204 stories (46%) were about people being harmed, usually 37%. Dhaka accounted for 57 of Bangladesh's 94 stories about harm, carried by 52 outlets. Reports of arrests ran at about twice the usual rate (17 stories). Its coverage was about three times as grief-stricken as the world's. Anger in its coverage rose to about twice its own usual.

Rights & justice

Trinidad & Tobago

34 of its 77 stories (44%) were about people being harmed, usually 26%. Reports of abductions ran at about 4 times the usual rate (9 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as grief-stricken as the world's.

Conflict & violence

Türkiye

122 of its 242 stories (50%) were about people being harmed, usually 37%. Reports of abductions ran at about twice the usual rate (25 stories). Its coverage was about twice as fearful as the world's.

Protests & strikes

Belarus

39 of its 81 stories (48%) were about people being harmed, usually 31%. 16 of Minsk's 24 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of arrests ran at about twice the usual rate (15 stories).

Protests & strikes

Spain

19 of Lleida's 32 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of arrests ran at about 5 times the usual rate (29 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as fearful as the world's.

Also named far more than usual: tsunami in Vanuatu (18 of its stories, about three times its usual); illness in Romania (18 of its stories, about three times its usual); helicopter crash in U.S. Virgin Islands (14 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); natural hazards in Kenya (12 of its stories, about 4 times its usual); extreme cold in US (531 of its stories, about 8 times its usual).

27 in 100 stories were about harm

usually 26; 27 the day before
29 in 10024 in 10018 Jan25 Jan1 Feb8 Feb16 Feb18 Jan: 27 in 10019 Jan: 27 in 10020 Jan: 26 in 10021 Jan: 26 in 10022 Jan: 26 in 10023 Jan: 28 in 10024 Jan: 28 in 10025 Jan: 26 in 10026 Jan: 26 in 10027 Jan: 26 in 10028 Jan: 26 in 10029 Jan: 26 in 10030 Jan: 27 in 10031 Jan: 28 in 1001 Feb: 25 in 1002 Feb: 25 in 1003 Feb: 25 in 1004 Feb: 25 in 1005 Feb: 25 in 1006 Feb: 27 in 1007 Feb: 27 in 1008 Feb: 24 in 1009 Feb: 25 in 10010 Feb: 25 in 10011 Feb: 25 in 10012 Feb: 25 in 10013 Feb: 28 in 10014 Feb: 29 in 10015 Feb: 27 in 10016 Feb: 27 in 100 · this day

Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 16 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 25,256 stories about harm among 93,773 counted on 16 Feb.

Read the day's briefing

The news turned to Myanmar for the third day running. 27 in every 100 of the day's 93,773 news stories were about people being harmed, as usual. In Vanuatu's news, mentions of the tsunami ran about three times their usual. A year earlier, on 17 February 2020, 21 in every 100 stories were about people being harmed, against 27 today. Myanmar's news was 81% about people being harmed, against a usual 64%.

Written by code from the day's numbers.

Where it happened

feelings in full →
Feelings Events Harm Warmth
Congo River, Congo -- accidents & disasters: 11 stories, carried by 14 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Idlib, Syria -- attacks & violence: 12 stories, carried by 24 outlets; harsh wording in 92 in 100Tehran, Iran -- attacks & violence: 22 stories, carried by 26 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Kherrata, Algeria -- protests & strikes: 8 stories, carried by 13 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Sidhi, India -- accidents & disasters: 38 stories, carried by 35 outlets; harsh wording in 95 in 100Kabul, Afghanistan -- attacks & violence: 35 stories, carried by 32 outlets; harsh wording in 83 in 100Warsaw, Poland -- protests & strikes: 6 stories, carried by 27 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Folkestone, UK -- people displaced: 15 stories, carried by 88 outlets; harsh wording in 73 in 100Dhaka, Bangladesh -- attacks & violence: 57 stories, carried by 52 outlets; harsh wording in 91 in 100Tijuana, Mexico -- protests & strikes: 11 stories, carried by 71 outlets; harsh wording in 82 in 100Marib, Yemen -- attacks & violence: 31 stories, carried by 57 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Canberra, Australia -- attacks & violence: 39 stories, carried by 113 outlets; harsh wording in 87 in 100Ankara, Türkiye -- attacks & violence: 43 stories, carried by 76 outlets; harsh wording in 93 in 100Minsk, Belarus -- protests & strikes: 24 stories, carried by 82 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Pyongyang, North Korea -- disease & outbreaks: 34 stories, carried by 61 outlets; harsh wording in 97 in 100Athens, Greece -- accidents & disasters: 67 stories, carried by 167 outlets; harsh wording in 88 in 100Baghdad, Iraq -- attacks & violence: 44 stories, carried by 147 outlets; harsh wording in 77 in 100Lleida, Spain -- protests & strikes: 32 stories, carried by 176 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Delhi, India -- protests & strikes: 451 stories, carried by 210 outlets; harsh wording in 91 in 100Yangon, Myanmar -- protests & strikes: 79 stories, carried by 148 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Mandalay, Myanmar -- protests & strikes: 21 stories, carried by 164 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Erbil, Iraq -- attacks & violence: 106 stories, carried by 196 outlets; harsh wording in 94 in 100Brunswick County, US -- accidents & disasters: 77 stories, carried by 311 outlets; harsh wording in 97 in 100Houston, US -- accidents & disasters: 518 stories, carried by 820 outlets; harsh wording in 97 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
● 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?

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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.