30 days later: Top stories, and a digital tracking of murder
April was defined by the shocking murder of T2F Director Sabeen Mahmud, followed by Pakistan's relationship with Saudi Arabia (with regards to the conflict in Yemen), and expanding ties with China.
While Sabeen's murder topped the list in terms of views, it was the controversial statements by a UAE minister warning Pakistan for its stance on Yemen that garnered the most comments, with a majority of commenters lambasting the official and calling for Pakistan to maintain its neutral stance in the conflict.
The top stories of the month listed below were identified using total page views as the key dimension. All data was gathered from Google Analytics or the Dawn website. While a number of factors must be taken into consideration such as layout, publishing time and social media, the exercise provides a general snapshot that highlights what stories gained top of mind with visitors.
Further below is an analysis of three high-profile deaths in April that highlights both how Dawn reacts to the killings (in terms of articles published) and how visitor interest plays out over time.
Top 10 stories for April
- Director T2F Sabeen Mahmud shot dead in Karachi
- UAE minister warns Pakistan of ‘heavy price for ambiguous stand’ on Yemen
- Misbah takes back decision
- A Pakistani-Burmese love affair from World War II
- Lahore to Dammam flight prevented from landing in Saudi Arabia: reports
- Nisar hits out at UAE minister for 'threatening' Pakistan
- Dawn Marketing Director killed in Karachi
- Pakistan was with us when China stood isolated: Xi Jinping
- From Germany to India: Chai and contradictions in Pakistan
- Arab frustration with Pakistan
The charts below capture how stories are developed/trend on Dawn.com in connection to high-profile murders. We looked at two variables: number of articles published, and total page views to those articles per day.
It was observed that there was a 80-90% drop-off rate in visitor interest after day one, irrespective of number of articles published. Interest flattened out after 3-4 days. Similarly, coverage dropped significantly or ended.
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