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2011's most-read stories
12/29/2011 1:44 PM
The return of the Jets might be the story of the year for many Winnipeggers, but getting a first look at their jerseys was tops for online readers.
Coverage of the jersey unveiling at 17 Wing Winnipeg was the most-viewed story on this site in 2011, generating more than 91,000 views.
That’s not to say the rumour, innuendo and eventual confirmation of the team’s return didn’t draw crowds: two other stories in the top 10 were linked to the Jets, including the story of their confirmed return.
Among the remaining seven were two of the year’s most hotly-debated local stories: at number two, the tale of a Manitoba judge whose comments about a sexual assault victim implying she was partly to blame sparked a national outcry, and the story of a man hit with a speeding ticket and suspended license while rushing his pregnant wife to hospital.
Also popular this year: the incredibly cute (a baby polar bear cam) and the rather odd (a Quebec mayor who left a 20-ton boulder on his ex’s lawn).
In some cases, other news websites helped unlikely candidates catapult into the top 10: a story about U.S. Republican Party presidential hopeful Ron Paul pulling ahead in polls picked up steam after being linked to from social news website Reddit, and a story on Spain’s arrest of three alleged hackers got heavy traction on Twitter and Facebook.
Not all of the year’s coverage fit the constraints of the list, but the flood of 2011 warrants a mention. Our live cameras and interactive features drew hundreds of thousands of page views, 300,000-plus for the flood cams alone.
1. VIDEO: Jets unveil official new jerseys: 91,159 views
2. Rape victim ‘inviting,’ so no jail: 83,584 views
3. He saves baby’s life, gets huge ticket: 82,789 views
4. Mayor’s gift to ex-wife? A 20-ton boulder on her lawn, wrapped in ribbon & note: 81,396 views
5. Spain arrests 3 hackers suspected of belonging to international cyber attack group Anonymous: 78,134 views
6. Toronto Maple Leafs confirm pictures of third jersey are legitimate: 63,236 views
7. LIVE: Churchill polar bear cam a hit: 57,083 views
8. Back in the big leagues: NHL returns to Winnipeg: 50,486 views
9. Ron Paul pulling past Michele Bachmann in polls, Americans taking notice: 48,573 views
10. Thrashers sale report ‘not accurate': 47,061 views
- Numbers up-to-date as of Dec. 27
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The most-commented stories of 2011
12/27/2011 2:05 PM
In a sea of year-end lists, here's one with special relevance for commenters: the stories that generated the most feedback from you.
Below, you'll find our top 10 most-commented stories on the Free Press website for 2011. These stories, with topics ranging from Air Canada's now-infamous memo about downtown safety and First Nations flood evacuees to a man hit with a speeding ticket while hustling his pregnant wife to hospital, represent some of the issues and events readers felt the most passionately about during the past year.
Interestingly, there's not a Jet among them -- though hockey will be making an appearance in our upcoming list of 2011's most-read stories.
Nick Martin's account of a school planning to offer community service credit to students taking part in anti-abortion vigils set a record as our website's most-commented story ever, topping 1,000 comments. Most commenters opposed the school's plans, though some spirited defenders did weigh in.
The tale of Justice Murray Sinclair's talk to a Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives brunch crowd showed the divisions that often emerge on stories involving First Nations issues.
Sinclair's account of the damaging effects of the residential school system, and the violence he believed could erupt as a result, generated an enormous range of responses: from vitriolic to empathetic, deeply critical to strongly supportive. Amid the often sharp exchanges were some thoughtful conversations between people with very different views.
1. Anti-abortion vigil earns credit - 1002 comments
Christ the King School plans to give community service credit to students who walk in daily anti-abortion vigils outside the Health Sciences Centre.
2. Sinclair warns of violent uprising - 759 comments
At a speaking engagement, Justice Murray Sinclair says Canadian society must heal the damage caused by the Indian residential school system or deal with the violence he believed would be unleashed against it.
3. Manslaughter charge dropped - 741 comments
Justice officials drop a manslaughter case against a Winnipeg shopkeeper accused of killing a customer caught stealing a can of luncheon meat.
4. He saves baby's life, gets huge ticket - 676 comments
Hitting the gas pedal in a rush to get his pregnant and soon-to-deliver wife to hospital leads to a suspended license and speeding ticket for a Winnipeg father.
5. Aboriginals will suffer: experts - 601 comments
Legal experts fear the Harper government's push for mandatory minimum sentences will unfairly target aboriginals.
6. National chief demands Air Canada apologize, build bridges with aboriginals - 551 comments
Canada's national aboriginal leader says Air Canada should apologize for an internal memo that he says victimized flood evacuees by linking them to increased crime in downtown Winnipeg.
7. Downtown shop throws in towel - 541 comments
Discreet Boutique closes its doors after more than three decades, the shop's owner blaming harassment from downtown panhandlers for his business's demise.
8. Chiefs decry 'racist' Air Canada memo - 536 comments
Air Canada apologizes for what the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs called a racist internal memo suggesting First Nations residents displaced by floods were making downtown Winnipeg dangerous.
9. First Nations defy province - 525 comments
Dakota First Nations face a showdown with the provincial government by pledging to sell cigarettes at half price and opening an unlicensed gaming centre, part of a bid to speed up legal efforts to obtain treaty status.
10. Prison sentence destroys family - 521 comments
A Winnipeg man who'd been hitchhiking across America is sentenced to 25 years to life in prison for stabbing a homeless man to death in California.
And we'd be remiss in not mentioning our most popular commenters of 2011, based on thumbs-up and thumbs-down rankings. Take a bow, gottawonder, East of Eden and Gack! You're the top 3.
You can see the full list on the left-hand column of our main page: scroll down to the day's top comment, then click the tab beside it that says "most popular commenters."
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On toddlers and technology
10/18/2011 12:15 PM
It's garnered nearly 2.5 million views in less than 2 weeks, helped along by the kind of provocative title that's catnip for online media watchers. (Would that all parents could get this kind of buzz about their baby videos.)
"A Magazine is an iPad That Does Not Work" features a toddler giddily running her fingers over an iPad screen, then getting puzzled and frustrated when the same maneuvers don't work on the pages of fashion glossies.
The poster's ultimate conclusion -- "For my 1 year old daughter, a magazine is an iPad that does not work. It will remain so for her whole life" -- was a little excessive for one Poynter writer, who pointed out his own daughter doesn't see a magazine as an iPad that doesn't work "any more than she thinks of a painting as a TV that doesn’t work."
Regardless, it's a fascinating reminder of how differently young children experience new technologies, compared to those of us who can remember a time without tablets.
A couple of my favourite projects on the same vein:
"Giving up my iPod for a Walkman" - in which the BBC gives 13-year-old Scott Campbell a Walkman in exchange for his iPod for a week. "When I wore it walking down the street or going into shops, I got strange looks, a mixture of surprise and curiosity, that made me a little embarrassed," wrote Scott.
Some other gems: "I managed to create an impromptu shuffle feature simply by holding down "rewind" and releasing it randomly." Also: "It took me three days to figure out that there was another side to the tape."
"Once upon a time ... technologies of the past" - a group of French children are handed a host of dated technologies, from a Gameboy to an old HP computer mouse, and invited to puzzle over what the gadgets might be.
Warning: watching these kids try to make sense of a floppy disc (Camera? Bank card?) may be a little depressing for anyone who's ever used one.
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About Lindsey Wiebe
Lindsey Wiebe grew up on a farm in rural Manitoba. She took her first run at getting hired by the Free Press at the age of 13: after winning a prize in a creative writing contest sponsored by the paper, she figured she’d be a shoo-in.
It’s not clear whether that letter ever reached the newsroom, but Lindsey got her foot in the door a few years later, joining the Free Press in 2006 after graduating from the University of Winnipeg and Red River College joint communications program. She’s gone on to work as a news and environmental reporter, surviving on local produce in a Manitoba November for a series on the local food movement, reporting from Afghanistan on the role of Canadian soldiers in reconstruction efforts, and heading up the Green Page, a monthly sustainability series. Most recently, Lindsey took up the newly-created role of social media reporter at the (also newly-created) Winnipeg Free Press News Café. She also works as a weekend online editor, setting aside her love of Saturday morning garage sales to help keep this site current.
Lindsey’s previously worked as a weekend radio reporter and casual researcher for CBC Manitoba, a programming coordinator at a local writers’ association, and most recently, an English language assistant in a high school in France (the latter while on a leave of absense from the Free Press, or ‘année sabbatique,’ as she learned to call it.).
Lindsey’s writing interests range from the journalistic to the creative: she’s shared her poetry at events including the Winnipeg International Writers’ Festival, the Winnipeg New Music Festival, and Prairie Fire Wordfest, and was a former organizer and host of the long running Speaking Crow poetry series and the now-defunct Winnipeg Poetry House.
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2011's most-read stories12/29/2011 1:44 PM
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On toddlers and technology10/18/2011 12:15 PM
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