This dataset contains the "Top Stories" frequency counts extracted via MediaCloud for the media corpus analyzed in the master's thesis "Between the Nile and the Red Sea: Securitization, Infrastructure Geopolitics, and Political Legitimacy in Ethiopia". The corpus covers English and Amharic language sources from April 2018 to July 2026, tracking discursive salience around the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD). Data represents story counts by source. Supplementary material for the appendix of the above-mentioned thesis, LUISS Guido Carli, SciencesPo Bordeaux 2026.