Don’t look now, but the year is almost over.
2014, to be sure, was dripping with danger abroad to chaos and disorder at home; whether from ISIL (or ISIS) to the deadly outbreak of Ebola to the tumultuous riots at Ferguson, while our heroes (and role models to others) seem to have let us down; namely NFL running back Ray Rice and America's favorite Dad through much of the 1980s; Cliff Huxtable (Bill Cosby).
2014 was additionally punctuated by the Democrats suffering another shellacking during the bruising midterm elections, Secret Service meltdowns at the White House, menacing machinations from Vladimir Putin; and possible cyber-attacks hatched by North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.
The year didn't come and go without a number of celebrations, including the World Cup in Brazil (congratulations Deutschland!), stocks soaring, gas prices plummeting, and some brave Americans rising to the Ice Bucket Challenge with a splash.
So before the curtain comes crashing down on 2014, I thought I would reach out to some news organizations to see what stories drove the most traffic and attracted the most page views during the chaotic year.
Here is a compilation of responses which came back.
Most Popular News Stories for 2014
- The police killings of unarmed blacks in Ferguson, Missouri, and elsewhere – and the investigations and tumultuous protests they inspired – was the top news story of 2014, according to The Associated Press' annual poll of U.S. editors and news directors. http://goo.gl/4nhL8j
- The New York Times most popular story of the year won’t be released until after the New Year; but their video department released the best videos of 2014, including “Surviving an ISIS Massacre, ‘’, the Ebola outbreak, and Michael Brown's body.: http://goo.gl/D1VRq
- ESPN.com’s most popular story in 2014, based on most page views, was LeBron James return to the Cleveland Cavaliers (4.1 million page views) http://goo.gl/O9fLQF
- The most viewed story on the Website of the Cook Political Report was “Historic GOP House Majority" by David Wasserman. It was published November 5, 2014. http://goo.gl/3muWUF
- The Smoking Gun's most popular story of the year was their lengthy April 7th investigation on Al Sharpton's Secret Work as FBI informant. http://goo.gl/vBC3Wu
- At FBI.gov, their top story of the year was the agency's plea for help from the public in identifying a child predator. http://goo.gl/TGKrBd. Beyond the home page, the top post of the year was the FBI's 10 Most Wanted List. http://goo.gl/Lfhbl9
- Weather.com's most popular story was their slideshow on the lake-effect snow that hit Buffalo and other spots in November http://goo.gl/Lg6zei Top 14 stories at Weather.com for 2014: http://goo.gl/vzzl2w
- Google: Top Searches of 2014 http://goo.gl/l5Ef81
- Yahoo's Top News searches of 2014 as presented by Katie Couric ttp://goo.gl/DAWoMi
- The 2014 #Year On Twitter http://goo.gl/HiORA7 ; Noteworthy Tweets of 2014 http://goo.gl/OCdCxC
- Facebook: 2014 Year in Review: http://tiny.cc/motarx
- CNN.com: What Stories Got You Talking in 2014? http://goo.gl/IdXDba
- One of the top (if not the top) story of the year at the New Yorker.com was Andrew Solomon's interview with Peter Lanza, the father of the Sandy Hook killer. http://goo.gl/JWvd4W
- The three top stories of the year on the website of ProPublica, the independent non-profit news organization, which produces investigative journalism in the public interest.
1.) Louisiana is losing a football field of land every 48 minutes due to climate change, drilling and dredging for oil and gas, and levees on the Mississippi River. http://goo.gl/mV8FF7
2.) Inside the New York Fed: Secret Recordings and a Culture Clash: http://goo.gl/xGmyde
3.) The Red Cross botched key elements of its mission after Sandy and Isaac, leaving behind a trail of unmet needs and acrimony, according to an investigation by ProPublica and NPR. The charity’s shortcomings were detailed in confidential reports and internal emails, as well as accounts from current and former disaster relief specialists. http://goo.gl/KSd6L6
- Two of the most popular stories at New York Magazine:
1.) Notorious KKK Leader Frazier Glenn Miller Was Once Caught Doing ‘Rather Salacious’ Things with a Black Male Prostitute by Joe Coscarelli http://goo.gl/u10e4Q
2.) In Conversation: Chris Rock By Frank Rich http://goo.gl/znY9p5
- Time Magazine’s most read article this year, based on unique visitors, was an interactive story, built by Time’s interactive graphics editor Chris Wilson. The story allows readers to measure how much time they have spent on Facebook. It was pegged to Facebook's 10th anniversary. http://goo.gl/vJGO5f
- The Salt Lake Tribune's most popular story of 2014 was headlined: “Western lawmakers gather in Utah to talk federal land takeover.’’ http://goo.gl/uqxr0o
- The Press of Atlantic City’s (BH Media Group) most popular story of 2014 was“Trump Plaza owners confirming plans to close in September. http://goo.gl/XR1uwF receiving just under 500 comments. The article was published on July 12, 2014.
-Bill Lucey
December 22, 2014
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