← 17 Feb Thursday 18 February 2021 · to 23:59 UTC 19 Feb →
What the world's news said happened to people.
Counts of coverage, not of suffering
26,670 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 protests in Minsk (Belarus), people injured in Uganda and people killed in Finland. Belarus' coverage was about twice as angry as the world's. Over the whole world, the tone was about as usual.

Part of lifeHealth 52 in 100 of the stories about harm · less than usual Country that rose mostBelarus 62 in 100 of its 114 stories, usually 33
RegionCentral Asia 41 in 100 of its stories, usually 32
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

Belarus

71 of its 114 stories (62%) were about people being harmed, usually 33%. Minsk accounted for 56 of Belarus' 71 stories about harm, carried by 176 outlets. 46 of Minsk's 56 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of arrests ran at about three times the usual rate (31 stories). Landslides were named in 11 of its stories about harm, about 5 times usual. Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's. Fear in its coverage rose to about one and a half times its own usual.

Rights & justice

Uganda

69 of its 117 stories (59%) were about people being harmed, usually 44%. Reports of people injured ran at about 8 times the usual rate (24 stories). Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's. Grief in its coverage rose to about one and a half times its own usual.

Health

Finland

37 of its 106 stories (35%) were about people being harmed, usually 22%. Reports of people killed ran at about twice the usual rate (9 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as fearful as the world's.

Conflict & violence

Libya

26 of its 65 stories (40%) were about people being harmed, usually 27%. Tripoli accounted for 21 of Libya's 26 stories about harm, carried by 39 outlets. Reports of people injured ran at about 5 times the usual rate (10 stories).

6 more places the news pointed at
Protests & strikes

Myanmar

96 of its 128 stories (75%) were about people being harmed, usually 65%. Yangon accounted for 48 of Myanmar's 96 stories about harm, carried by 98 outlets. 47 of Yangon's 48 stories were about protests or strikes. Natural hazards were named in 19 of its stories about harm, about 6 times usual. Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's.

Protests & strikes

Spain

35 of Barcelona's 47 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of arrests ran at about 6 times the usual rate (52 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as angry as the world's.

Conflict & violence

Yemen

Marib accounted for 23 of Yemen's 44 stories about harm, carried by 43 outlets. Reports of refugees ran at about 4 times the usual rate (10 stories). Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's.

Conflict & violence

Afghanistan

Kabul accounted for 42 of Afghanistan's 79 stories about harm, carried by 65 outlets. Reports of people displaced ran at about three times the usual rate (5 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as angry as the world's.

Health

Guinea

53 of its 66 stories (80%) were about people being harmed, usually 66%. Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's.

Health

DR Congo

13 of its 20 stories (65%) were about people being harmed, usually 46%. Reports of arrests ran at about 4 times the usual rate (5 stories).

Also named far more than usual: earthquake in Iran (20 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); natural hazards in Myanmar (19 of its stories, about 6 times its usual); snowstorms in US (1408 of its stories, about 4 times its usual); power cuts in Mexico (17 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); tropical storm in Philippines (24 of its stories, more than ten times its usual).

26 in 100 stories were about harm

usually 26; 27 the day before
29 in 10024 in 10020 Jan27 Jan3 Feb10 Feb18 Feb20 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 10017 Feb: 27 in 10018 Feb: 26 in 100 · this day

Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 18 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 26,670 stories about harm among 101,926 counted on 18 Feb.

Read the day's briefing

In Iran's news, mentions of the earthquake ran more than ten times their usual. Stories about people being harmed made up 26 in every 100 of the day's 101,926 stories, as usual. On 19 February 2020, a year earlier, the share was 20 in every 100, against 26 today. In Belarus, 62% of the news was about people being harmed, where 33% is usual.

Written by code from the day's numbers.

Where it happened

feelings in full →
Feelings Events Harm Warmth
Biars, France -- attacks & violence: 5 stories, carried by 8 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Murshidabad, India -- attacks & violence: 13 stories, carried by 11 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Quetta, Pakistan -- attacks & violence: 7 stories, carried by 16 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Petersburg, Russia -- accidents & disasters: 12 stories, carried by 29 outlets; harsh wording in 67 in 100Pedara, Italy -- accidents & disasters: 6 stories, carried by 13 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Athens, Greece -- accidents & disasters: 25 stories, carried by 33 outlets; harsh wording in 88 in 100Yorkshire, UK -- accidents & disasters: 28 stories, carried by 36 outlets; harsh wording in 86 in 100Marib, Yemen -- people displaced: 23 stories, carried by 43 outlets; harsh wording in 96 in 100Adjumani, Uganda -- attacks & violence: 13 stories, carried by 16 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Erbil, Iraq -- attacks & violence: 14 stories, carried by 17 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Kolkata, India -- attacks & violence: 31 stories, carried by 21 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Sisakht, Iran -- accidents & disasters: 13 stories, carried by 21 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Tbilisi, Georgia -- protests & strikes: 17 stories, carried by 20 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Tripoli, Libya -- attacks & violence: 21 stories, carried by 39 outlets; harsh wording in 86 in 100Tehran, Iran -- attacks & violence: 31 stories, carried by 60 outlets; harsh wording in 90 in 100Baghdad, Iraq -- attacks & violence: 24 stories, carried by 50 outlets; harsh wording in 92 in 100Baton Rouge, US -- accidents & disasters: 31 stories, carried by 102 outlets; harsh wording in 84 in 100Tigray, Ethiopia -- attacks & violence: 23 stories, carried by 72 outlets; harsh wording in 96 in 100Kabul, Afghanistan -- attacks & violence: 42 stories, carried by 65 outlets; harsh wording in 88 in 100South Padre Island, US -- accidents & disasters: 37 stories, carried by 162 outlets; harsh wording in 65 in 100Mandalay, Myanmar -- protests & strikes: 18 stories, carried by 101 outlets; harsh wording in 89 in 100Yangon, Myanmar -- protests & strikes: 48 stories, carried by 98 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Minsk, Belarus -- protests & strikes: 56 stories, carried by 176 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Barcelona, Spain -- protests & strikes: 47 stories, carried by 220 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.