--- title: "IPTC Media Topics" description: "Explore 718 IPTC Media Topic categories and example usages showing how COVID-19, Suez and GameStop reporting migrate across distinct subject regimes." url: "https://nosible.com/ontologies/iptc-media-topics" --- [Home](https://nosible.com/) [Ontologies](https://nosible.com/ontologies) IPTC Media Topics Ontology field guide By NOSIBLE Research Updated 2026-07-18 # IPTC Media Topics IPTC Media Topics reveals when issuer coverage crosses risk domains. Subject labels determine the risk regime a researcher sees. An issuer can move from routine company and engineering coverage into accidents, regulation, litigation and workforce disruption. IPTC Media Topics preserves those domains in one hierarchy. Researchers can detect the transition without treating every company event as equivalent across time, sources, sectors or risk regimes. [[ 1 ]](https://www.iptc.org/std/NewsCodes/treeview/mediatopic/mediatopic-en-GB.html) World assigns each event a three-level topic path. Roots support broad regime measures. Leaves support precise cohorts. Topic transitions show where reporting moves. They do not establish economic impact, causal exposure, operational loss, legal liability or subsequent market repricing. [[ 1 ]](https://www.iptc.org/std/NewsCodes/treeview/mediatopic/mediatopic-en-GB.html) Categories 718 categories Structure 3 levels World events labelled 100.0% Stable codes Since v1 Release data CC0 On this page [01 Foundations](https://nosible.com/ontologies/iptc-media-topics#foundations) [02 Categories](https://nosible.com/ontologies/iptc-media-topics#vocabulary) [03 Example usages](https://nosible.com/ontologies/iptc-media-topics#trends) [04 Downloads and references](https://nosible.com/ontologies/iptc-media-topics#downloads) Foundations ## Media Topics separates subject domains without measuring importance, impact or factual accuracy IPTC Media Topics is a subject hierarchy for news. Seventeen roots cover economy, politics, health, science, labour, society, environment, sport and other domains. Descendants add narrower subjects. One structure supports broad attention measures and precise event cohorts for direct comparison. [[ 1 ]](https://www.iptc.org/std/NewsCodes/treeview/mediatopic/mediatopic-en-GB.html) World stores the dominant path for each canonical event. It does not preserve every secondary subject in the underlying coverage. A broader topic mix can reflect real diffusion, changing sources or classification boundaries. Validate important transitions against entities, sources and leaf assignments before interpreting the regime shift. [[ 1 ]](https://www.iptc.org/std/NewsCodes/treeview/mediatopic/mediatopic-en-GB.html) Categories ## Media Topics organizes 718 reporting categories beneath 17 independent subject-domain roots World implements 17 roots, 73 intermediate subjects and 628 leaves. Each event receives one path. The explorer exposes definitions, stable IPTC codes, complete paths and World V1.2 frequencies. Bounded search and tree expansion avoid rendering all 718 categories at once while preserving the full hierarchy. Search code, label, definition or path 17 shown · 718 total Labelled events **15,311,040** World coverage **100.0%** All World events **15,311,040** 15,311,040 of 15,311,040 World events carry labels from IPTC Media Topics. Select a category to see its count and both relevant shares. Hierarchy level_1 / level_2 / level_3 + arts, culture, entertainment and media Broad media, culture and entertainment attention · 3 children + conflict, war and peace medtop:16000000 · 9 children + crime, law and justice medtop:02000000 · 5 children + disaster, accident and emergency incident medtop:03000000 · 5 children + economy, business and finance Commercial, industry and financial transmission · 5 children + education medtop:05000000 · 13 children + environment medtop:06000000 · 6 children + health Clinical, healthcare and population-health cohorts · 10 children + human interest medtop:08000000 · 10 children + labour Employment, compensation and workforce effects · 7 children + lifestyle and leisure medtop:10000000 · 3 children + politics and government Regulation, public spending and policy response · 8 children + religion medtop:12000000 · 10 children + science and technology medtop:13000000 · 8 children + society Social adoption, access and distributional effects · 13 children + sport Competition, scheduling and sports-business effects · 12 children + weather medtop:17000000 · 4 children arts, culture, entertainment and media ### arts, culture, entertainment and media Copy link #### Definition Reporting about arts, culture, entertainment and media, including creative work, cultural practice, publishing and broadcasting. Potential research use Broad media, culture and entertainment attention Code medtop:01000000 Events with label 770,168 Share of labelled 5.0% Share of World 5.0% **Events with label** is the selected count. **Label share** divides it by 15,311,040 assigned events; **World share** divides it by all 15,311,040 events. #### Representative World V1.2 events One strong classified example per available year, with up to ten years shown. 10 examples 1. 2015-12-04Local Arts Groups Propose Downtown Cultural District RevitalizationCoverage 11 2. 2016-01-13Corus Acquires Shaw Media for $2.65B to Expand Canadian TV PortfolioCoverage 73 3. 2017-01-19Social Media Cancels Hollywood Events Including Performers and ShowsCoverage 39 4. 2019-02-20Ubisoft Developing Female-Led Skull Bones TV Series with Atlas EntertainmentCoverage 35 5. 2020-07-28Sky Arts Becomes Free-to-Air on Freeview and Freesat in SeptemberCoverage 37 6. 2021-10-08UK City of Culture 2025 Longlist Revealed for Eight AreasCoverage 54 7. 2022-09-19Naples Launches ¡Arte Viva! Hispanic Culture Arts InitiativeCoverage 52 8. 2024-01-17Social Media Algorithms Flatten Culture by Making DecisionsCoverage 234 9. 2025-06-17ARKO Concludes 10th World Summit on Arts and Culture in SeoulCoverage 68 10. 2026-04-30Teens Prefer Social Media and Influencers for News Despite SkepticismCoverage 366 Browse categories to compare definitions, World V1.2 statistics and representative classified events. Example usage 1 of 3 ### Example Usage: COVID-19 coverage escapes health as policy, society and sport take over COVID-19 reporting begins as a health story, then spreads across the economy and public life. Health falls from 37.4% of assigned topics before 20 February 2020 to 23.0% afterwards. Politics, society and sport each gain material share as governments restrict activity, close borders and cancel events. [[ 2 ]](https://www.who.int/news/item/29-06-2020-covidtimeline) Each topic implies a different exposure set. Health points to providers and therapeutics. Politics identifies regulation and fiscal response. Society captures behavioral disruption. Sport isolates shutdowns and media rights. The hierarchy turns one pandemic keyword into separate event clocks for sector, policy and cross-asset research. [[ 1 ]](https://www.iptc.org/std/NewsCodes/treeview/mediatopic/mediatopic-en-GB.html) [[ 3 ]](https://www.imf.org/en/Publications/WEO/Issues/2020/04/14/weo-april-2020) Health **37.4% to 23.0%** Politics **+5.8pp** Society **+5.6pp** Sport **+4.0pp** **COVID-19 expands from a health story into policy, society and sport** two-week share of assigned topics Health Politics Society Sport The fixed English cohort contains 55,650 IPTC-assigned COVID-19 events from January through June 2020. Lines pool topic counts across consecutive weeks and divide by all assigned cohort events. They measure the reporting subject mix, not infections, economic losses or market returns. Example usage 2 of 3 ### Example Usage: Suez topics separate the immediate trade shock from the longer logistics bottleneck The Ever Given blockage creates a concentrated trade and transport regime after 23 March 2021. Normalized IPTC-assigned coverage reaches 2,800 events per million during the blocked week. Economy, Business and Finance accounts for 64.3% of assigned topics, Transport for 35.7%, and International Trade for 14.3% while the canal remains closed. [[ 6 ]](https://www.suezcanal.gov.eg/English/MediaCenter/News/Pages/sca_29-3-2021.aspx) After refloating, normalized attention falls to 584 events per million. Economy and Finance drops to 41.0%, while Transport remains at 38.5% and infrastructure-related Science and Technology reaches 7.7%. The categories create separate clocks for the initial trade interruption and the slower freight, inventory, insurance and port-congestion consequences. [[ 7 ]](https://unctad.org/news/suez-canal-blockage-hit-global-trade-6-billion-9-billion-week) Normalized coverage -2,216 per million Economy and finance -23.3pp Transport +2.8pp International trade -14.3pp Three-week pooled share of IPTC-assigned Suez events · % Economy and Finance Transport Science and Technology The fixed English cohort requires Ever Given or Suez Canal language from March through mid-May 2021. Each line pools category counts across the current and prior two weeks, then divides by all IPTC-assigned cohort events in that window. Economy and Science are top-level topics; Transport is the relevant third-level topic within the same fixed canal-disruption reporting cohort throughout the event window. Example usage 3 of 3 ### Example Usage: GameStop becomes a policy story when Congress examines the trading restrictions GameStop begins as a market and retail-investor story. Economy, Business and Finance represents 41% of assigned topics around the 28 January 2021 trading restrictions. Its share falls to 29% by the 18 February congressional hearing, while Politics and Government rises from 5% to 21% of the same classified cohort. [[ 8 ]](https://www.sec.gov/files/staff-report-equity-options-market-struction-conditions-early-2021.pdf) The shift separates two risk channels that a GameStop keyword combines. The squeeze concerns positioning, liquidity and price formation. The hearing introduces brokerage rules, payment for order flow and market-structure risk. Topic labels identify when the event clock moves from trading mechanics toward regulation and business-model risk. [[ 9 ]](https://financialservices.house.gov/calendar/eventsingle.aspx?EventID=407107) Politics +16.0pp Economy and Finance -12.0pp Lifestyle and Leisure +11.0pp Fourteen-day pooled share of IPTC-assigned GameStop events · % Economy and Finance Politics and Government Lifestyle and Leisure The fixed English cohort covers January through April 2021 and requires GameStop, Game Stop or GME. The chart shows 15 January through 10 March. Each line pools topic counts across the current and prior thirteen days, then divides by all IPTC-assigned cohort events. The cohort contains 231 assigned events; raw counts are sample disclosures only and do not directly establish market impact or causal effects. Data and sources ## Download IPTC Media Topics and References ### Downloads Download categories and counts as CSV, or the complete machine-readable release as JSON. [**CSV** Definitions and counts Download ↓](https://nosible.com/data/world-v1.2/ontologies/iptc-media-topics/v1/nodes.csv) [**JSON** Full machine-readable release Download ↓](https://nosible.com/data/world-v1.2/ontologies/iptc-media-topics/v1/statistics.json) Release details and citation files [Manifest](https://nosible.com/data/world-v1.2/ontologies/iptc-media-topics/v1/manifest.json) [Release README](https://nosible.com/data/world-v1.2/ontologies/iptc-media-topics/v1/README.md) [CC0 license and scope](https://nosible.com/data/world-v1.2/ontologies/iptc-media-topics/v1/LICENSE.md) [Citation file](https://nosible.com/data/world-v1.2/ontologies/iptc-media-topics/v1/CITATION.cff) [Changelog](https://nosible.com/data/world-v1.2/ontologies/iptc-media-topics/v1/CHANGELOG.md) Need the complete World event schema? [Open the World data dictionary.](https://nosible.com/data-dictionaries#world) ### References 1. [ 1 ][International Press Telecommunications Council. Media Topics controlled categories, 2025-10-10 release.](https://www.iptc.org/std/NewsCodes/treeview/mediatopic/mediatopic-en-GB.html) 2. [ 2 ][World Health Organization. (2020). Timeline of WHO's response to COVID-19.](https://www.who.int/news/item/29-06-2020-covidtimeline) 3. [ 3 ][International Monetary Fund. (2020). World Economic Outlook: The Great Lockdown.](https://www.imf.org/en/Publications/WEO/Issues/2020/04/14/weo-april-2020) 4. [ 8 ][U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. (2021). Staff report on equity and options market structure conditions in early 2021.](https://www.sec.gov/files/staff-report-equity-options-market-struction-conditions-early-2021.pdf) 5. [ 9 ][U.S. House Committee on Financial Services. (2021). Game Stopped? Who wins and loses when short sellers, social media, and retail investors collide.](https://financialservices.house.gov/calendar/eventsingle.aspx?EventID=407107) 6. [ 6 ][Suez Canal Authority. (2021). Successful refloating of the Ever Given, 29 March 2021.](https://www.suezcanal.gov.eg/English/MediaCenter/News/Pages/sca_29-3-2021.aspx) 7. [ 7 ][United Nations Conference on Trade and Development. (2021). Suez Canal blockage could affect global trade by $6-9 billion per week.](https://unctad.org/news/suez-canal-blockage-hit-global-trade-6-billion-9-billion-week) Continue exploring ## Complementary ontologies [709 categories IAB Content Ontology Cross-check news topics against a separate web-content hierarchy for broader subject coverage. Explore ontology →](https://nosible.com/ontologies/iab-content-taxonomy) [5 categories Media Frames Measure how a subject is framed after identifying what the reporting is about. Explore ontology →](https://nosible.com/ontologies/media-frames) > Explore 718 IPTC Media Topic categories and example usages showing how COVID-19, Suez and GameStop reporting migrate across distinct subject regimes. **URL:** https://nosible.com/ontologies/iptc-media-topics