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What the world's news said happened to people.
Counts of coverage, not of suffering
14,229 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 Caracas (Venezuela), people killed in Zambia and the avalanche in Austria. Zambia's coverage was about one and a half times as grief-stricken as the world's. In the world's news as a whole, the wording was softer than usual.

Part of lifeRights & justice 31 in 100 of the stories about harm · more than usual Country that rose mostVenezuela 55 in 100 of its 119 stories, usually 29
RegionEvery region about as usual
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

Venezuela

66 of its 119 stories (55%) were about people being harmed, usually 29%. Caracas accounted for 46 of Venezuela's 66 stories about harm, carried by 191 outlets. 27 of Caracas' 46 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of arrests ran at about twice the usual rate (46 stories).

Conflict & violence

Zambia

16 of its 31 stories (52%) were about people being harmed, usually 13%. Reports of people killed ran at about 4 times the usual rate (10 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as grief-stricken as the world's.

Disasters & accidents

Austria

56 of its 161 stories (35%) were about people being harmed, usually 19%. Reports of people killed ran at about three times the usual rate (23 stories). Avalanche was named in 11 of its stories about harm, about 6 times usual, with power cuts, snowstorms and hypothermia.

Shelter & services

Cuba

50 of its 111 stories (45%) were about people being harmed, usually 35%. Havana accounted for 26 of Cuba's 50 stories about harm, carried by 16 outlets. Its coverage was about one and a half times as fearful as the world's.

6 more places the news pointed at
Disasters & accidents

Romania

28 of its 111 stories (25%) were about people being harmed, usually 11%. Reports of people affected ran at about 9 times the usual rate (17 stories). Snowstorms were named in 18 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual, with storms.

Protests & strikes

Argentina

19 of its 65 stories (29%) were about people being harmed, usually 17%. 14 of Buenos Aires' 14 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of arrests ran at about three times the usual rate (7 stories).

Conflict & violence

Sudan

69 of its 90 stories (77%) were about people being harmed, usually 66%. el Fasher accounted for 27 of Sudan's 69 stories about harm, carried by 27 outlets. Its coverage was about three times as grief-stricken as the world's.

Rights & justice

UK

Reports of arrests ran at about three times the usual rate (414 stories). Poisoning was named in 38 of its stories about harm, about three times usual. Its coverage was about one and a half times as fearful as the world's.

Disasters & accidents

Singapore

39 of its 150 stories (26%) were about people being harmed, usually 12%. Reports of evacuations ran at more than ten times the usual rate (10 stories).

Protests & strikes

Belarus

8 of its 25 stories (32%) were about people being harmed, usually 14%. 3 of Minsk's 5 stories were about protests or strikes.

Also named far more than usual: snowstorms in Romania (18 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); hunger in Somalia (10 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); landslides in Philippines (16 of its stories, about 6 times its usual); flooding in Malaysia (10 of its stories, about 7 times its usual); heavy rain in Greece (10 of its stories, about three times its usual).

18 in 100 stories were about harm

usually 18; 18 the day before
21 in 10016 in 10022 Jan29 Jan5 Feb12 Feb20 Feb22 Jan: 18 in 10023 Jan: 20 in 10024 Jan: 21 in 10025 Jan: 21 in 10026 Jan: 20 in 10027 Jan: 20 in 10028 Jan: 20 in 10029 Jan: 19 in 10030 Jan: 19 in 10031 Jan: 20 in 1001 Feb: 18 in 1002 Feb: 17 in 1003 Feb: 17 in 1004 Feb: 17 in 1005 Feb: 17 in 1006 Feb: 17 in 1007 Feb: 17 in 1008 Feb: 17 in 1009 Feb: 16 in 10010 Feb: 16 in 10011 Feb: 17 in 10012 Feb: 17 in 10013 Feb: 17 in 10014 Feb: 17 in 10015 Feb: 17 in 10016 Feb: 17 in 10017 Feb: 17 in 10018 Feb: 17 in 10019 Feb: 18 in 10020 Feb: 18 in 100 · this day

Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 20 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 14,229 stories about harm among 81,195 counted on 20 Feb.

Read the day's briefing

Romania's news mentioned snowstorms more than ten times as often as usual. 18 in every 100 of the day's 81,195 news stories were about people being harmed, as usual. In Venezuela, 55% of the news was about people being harmed, where 29% is usual. A year earlier, on 20 February 2025, 17 in every 100 stories were about people being harmed, against 18 today.

Written by code from the day's numbers.

Where it happened

feelings in full →
Feelings Events Harm Warmth
Fasher, Sudan -- attacks & violence: 10 stories, carried by 13 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Lusaka, Zambia -- attacks & violence: 11 stories, carried by 19 outlets; harsh wording in 91 in 100Port Said, Egypt -- accidents & disasters: 7 stories, carried by 13 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Paris, France -- attacks & violence: 42 stories, carried by 42 outlets; harsh wording in 93 in 100Seoul, South Korea -- protests & strikes: 25 stories, carried by 24 outlets; harsh wording in 96 in 100Kebbi, Nigeria -- attacks & violence: 13 stories, carried by 13 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Tel Aviv, Israel -- attacks & violence: 16 stories, carried by 30 outlets; harsh wording in 94 in 100Damascus, Syria -- attacks & violence: 14 stories, carried by 36 outlets; harsh wording in 71 in 100Warsaw, Poland -- protests & strikes: 11 stories, carried by 24 outlets; harsh wording in 91 in 100Gaza, Palestine -- attacks & violence: 36 stories, carried by 43 outlets; harsh wording in 86 in 100El Fasher, Sudan -- attacks & violence: 27 stories, carried by 27 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Moscow, Russia -- attacks & violence: 52 stories, carried by 43 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Athens, Greece -- attacks & violence: 20 stories, carried by 80 outlets; harsh wording in 95 in 100Sokoto, Nigeria -- attacks & violence: 14 stories, carried by 31 outlets; harsh wording in 93 in 100Buenos Aires, Argentina -- protests & strikes: 14 stories, carried by 28 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Barcelona, Spain -- deaths, cause not given: 23 stories, carried by 116 outlets; harsh wording in 39 in 100Jerusalem, Israel -- attacks & violence: 61 stories, carried by 71 outlets; harsh wording in 85 in 100Sierra Nevada, US -- accidents & disasters: 19 stories, carried by 45 outlets; harsh wording in 95 in 100Vnukova, Russia -- protests & strikes: 6 stories, carried by 51 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Kyiv, Ukraine -- attacks & violence: 35 stories, carried by 94 outlets; harsh wording in 94 in 100Grossglockner, Austria -- accidents & disasters: 19 stories, carried by 111 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Nevada County, US -- accidents & disasters: 54 stories, carried by 104 outlets; harsh wording in 91 in 100Caracas, Venezuela -- protests & strikes: 46 stories, carried by 191 outlets; harsh wording in 96 in 100Tehran, Iran -- attacks & violence: 158 stories, carried by 381 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 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 · 18 Oct – 24 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.