← 18 Feb Sunday 19 February 2023 · to 23:59 UTC 20 Feb →
What the world's news said happened to people.
Counts of coverage, not of suffering
6,993 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 →

Rights and justice in Sofia, violence in Damascus and volcanic eruption in the Philippines drew the news. Syria's coverage was about three times as angry as the world's. Across the world, the tone of the words was harsher than usual.

Reports of abductions ran at about twice the usual rate, most often about the US and India → Help and hope: reports of people freed or reunited ran at about one and a half times the usual rate →
Part of lifeHealth 29 in 100 of the stories about harm · less than usual Country that rose mostEthiopia 60 in 100 of its 52 stories, usually 36
RegionLatin America & Caribbean 29 in 100 of its stories, usually 25
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 →
Rights & justice

Bulgaria

22 of its 45 stories (49%) were about people being harmed, usually 26%. Sofia accounted for 17 of Bulgaria's 22 stories about harm, carried by 23 outlets. Reports of arrests ran at about 4 times the usual rate (16 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as grief-stricken as the world's.

Conflict & violence

Syria

207 of its 259 stories (80%) were about people being harmed, usually 72%. Damascus accounted for 141 of Syria's 207 stories about harm, carried by 172 outlets. Reports of people injured ran at about twice the usual rate (107 stories). Its coverage was about three times as angry as the world's.

Disasters & accidents

Philippines

107 of its 329 stories (33%) were about people being harmed, usually 27%. Reports of people affected ran at about three times the usual rate (31 stories). Volcanic eruption was named in 15 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual.

6 more places the news pointed at
Conflict & violence

Russia

Reports of refugees ran at about three times the usual rate (5 stories). Drought was named in 14 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual. Its coverage was about one and a half times as angry as the world's.

Disasters & accidents

New Zealand

Reports of arrests ran at about three times the usual rate (10 stories). Natural hazards were named in 15 of its stories about harm, about 5 times usual. Grief in its coverage rose to about one and a half times its own usual.

Conflict & violence

Ethiopia

31 of its 52 stories (60%) were about people being harmed, usually 36%. Addis Ababa accounted for 21 of Ethiopia's 31 stories about harm, carried by 15 outlets.

Rights & justice

South Africa

122 of its 326 stories (37%) were about people being harmed, usually 27%. Reports of abductions ran at about 4 times the usual rate (6 stories).

Health

Mexico

31 of its 103 stories (30%) were about people being harmed, usually 21%. Respiratory illness was named in 21 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual.

Health

Singapore

15 of its 54 stories (28%) were about people being harmed, usually 16%. Reports of people killed ran at about three times the usual rate (5 stories).

Also named far more than usual: respiratory illness in Mexico (21 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); natural hazards in New Zealand (15 of its stories, about 5 times its usual); drought in Russia (14 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); power cuts in Australia (11 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); avalanche in Canada (10 of its stories, about 5 times its usual).

20 in 100 stories were about harm

usually 20; 20 the day before
21 in 10018 in 10021 Jan28 Jan4 Feb11 Feb19 Feb21 Jan: 19 in 10022 Jan: 20 in 10023 Jan: 19 in 10024 Jan: 20 in 10025 Jan: 19 in 10026 Jan: 19 in 10027 Jan: 20 in 10028 Jan: 21 in 10029 Jan: 21 in 10030 Jan: 19 in 10031 Jan: 19 in 1001 Feb: 19 in 1002 Feb: 19 in 1003 Feb: 19 in 1004 Feb: 20 in 1005 Feb: 19 in 1006 Feb: 20 in 1007 Feb: 21 in 1008 Feb: 19 in 1009 Feb: 19 in 10010 Feb: 19 in 10011 Feb: 20 in 10012 Feb: 19 in 10013 Feb: 18 in 10014 Feb: 19 in 10015 Feb: 20 in 10016 Feb: 20 in 10017 Feb: 20 in 10018 Feb: 20 in 10019 Feb: 20 in 100 · this day

Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 19 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 6,993 stories about harm among 34,324 counted on 19 Feb.

Read the day's briefing

Mentions of respiratory illness ran more than ten times their usual in Mexico's news. of the day's 34,324 news stories, 20 in every 100 were about people being harmed, as usual. the news turned to Bulgaria for the third day running. Help and hope: reports of people freed or reunited ran at about one and a half times the usual rate. Reports of abductions ran at about twice the usual rate, most often about the US and India. This week the news turned most often to Tunisia, on 6 of 7 days; help rose on 1 of them.

Written by code from the day's numbers.

Where it happened

feelings in full →
Feelings Events Harm Warmth
Sfax, Tunisia -- protests & strikes: 8 stories, carried by 8 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Abuja, Nigeria -- attacks & violence: 19 stories, carried by 25 outlets; harsh wording in 89 in 100Telangana, India -- protests & strikes: 11 stories, carried by 13 outlets; harsh wording in 91 in 100Islamabad, Pakistan -- attacks & violence: 26 stories, carried by 25 outlets; harsh wording in 88 in 100Philippine, Philippines -- accidents & disasters: 48 stories, carried by 24 outlets; harsh wording in 88 in 100Adamawa, Nigeria -- protests & strikes: 6 stories, carried by 21 outlets; harsh wording in 83 in 100Ottawa, Canada -- protests & strikes: 14 stories, carried by 20 outlets; harsh wording in 86 in 100Beijing, China -- attacks & violence: 23 stories, carried by 58 outlets; harsh wording in 74 in 100Seoul, South Korea -- protests & strikes: 5 stories, carried by 24 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Kabul, Afghanistan -- attacks & violence: 21 stories, carried by 28 outlets; harsh wording in 90 in 100Hawke Bay, New Zealand -- accidents & disasters: 34 stories, carried by 23 outlets; harsh wording in 88 in 100Jerusalem, Israel -- attacks & violence: 60 stories, carried by 33 outlets; harsh wording in 85 in 100Manila, Philippines -- accidents & disasters: 29 stories, carried by 40 outlets; harsh wording in 76 in 100Idlib, Syria -- accidents & disasters: 13 stories, carried by 24 outlets; harsh wording in 92 in 100Wellington, New Zealand -- accidents & disasters: 8 stories, carried by 26 outlets; harsh wording in 88 in 100Tunis, Tunisia -- protests & strikes: 7 stories, carried by 35 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Karachi, Pakistan -- attacks & violence: 85 stories, carried by 49 outlets; harsh wording in 96 in 100Antakya, Türkiye -- accidents & disasters: 70 stories, carried by 93 outlets; harsh wording in 84 in 100Moscow, Russia -- attacks & violence: 63 stories, carried by 121 outlets; harsh wording in 97 in 100East Palestine, US -- accidents & disasters: 88 stories, carried by 93 outlets; harsh wording in 95 in 100Incirlik, Türkiye -- accidents & disasters: 14 stories, carried by 171 outlets; harsh wording in 50 in 100Kyiv, Ukraine -- attacks & violence: 72 stories, carried by 119 outlets; harsh wording in 97 in 100Berkey Hall, US -- attacks & violence: 14 stories, carried by 120 outlets; harsh wording in 93 in 100Damascus, Syria -- attacks & violence: 141 stories, carried by 172 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 harsher 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

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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.