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Winnipeg Free Press - ONLINE EDITION
2011's most-read stories
Winnipeg Jets Eric Fehr (from left), Mark Stuart, Nik Antropov and Andrew Ladd sport the new Jets jerseys during the unveiling ceremony at the 17 Wing Winnipeg Canadian Forces base. The jersey unveiling was 2011's most-viewed story on our website. (JOHN WOODS / THE CANADIAN PRESS)
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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- Return to Lindsey Wiebe
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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