Among its many other crimes against journalism, the Internet has shown writers and editors what people really want to read when no one is looking.
We now know that a slide show called "10 Reasons Tim Tebow Is Hotter Than Justin Bieber" will draw more hits than an excellent 3,000-word investigative piece any day.
As WW's web editor, I spend all day watching in real time what you are reading on our site, and it doesn't exactly fill me with hope for the future of the fourth estate.
But looking at our top 10 online stories of the year, I'm pleased to report there might be some life in the old girl yet.
WW
2.
3.
WW
I Am Better Than Your Kids
The book is literally 300 pages of the author insulting childrenâs drawings. People continue to leave charming comments about the review. Some of our favorites include: âi hope your kids die in a car crashâ and âSeriously your complaints are retarded. Iâm pretty sure you might be retarded.â
4.
WW
The New York Times
5.
It started with an email from another WW writer, titled just âexplain, pleaseâ with a link to 2011âs stupidest Internet meme, âplanking,â in which people take photos of themselves lying face down in stupid and/or dangerous places.
WW
7.
WW
8.
In a story more than 30 years in the making, WW chose to reveal the identity of Elizabeth Lynn Dunham, the woman then-Portland Mayor Neil Goldschmidt raped in the mid-1970s, after she died in January. WW staff writer Nigel Jaquissâ portrait of Goldschmidtâs victim brought her out of the shadows and directed new lines of accountability toward people who knew of the crime but remained silent for years.
9.
10.
Comments