Me Too marchers gather at Hollywood and Highland.
Photo by David Crane, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
2017 has been a tumultuous year, to be sure.
Ever since Donald Trump was sworn in as the 45th U.S. President on January 20,th the news cycle has endured a cataclysmic year, from the Twitter-in-chief, blaming the left-leaning news media and “Fake News” for his unfavorable polling numbers, to North Korea firing a intercontinental ballistic missile (crashing into the sea of Japan), a large-scale ransomware cyberattack, (affecting an estimated 150 countries), terrorist bombing attacks in Manchester, England (with 22 people killed) and the Islamic State of Iraq (killing 17 civilians), a mass shooting in Las Vegas (leaving 58 people dead), another gunmen killing 26 at a rural Texas church, along with two massive earthquakes: Hurricane Maria (Category 4) in Puerto Rico, causing at least 94 deaths and estimated damages in excess of $103 billion, and Hurricane Harvey (Category 4), causing catastrophic damage to the Houston metropolitan area, with at least 90 deaths and total damages ballooning to $198.6 billion.
If this tidal wave wasn’t turbulent enough, the White House finds itself out of the frying pan and into the fire of an ongoing Special Counsel investigation, led by former FBI Director Robert Mueller III (special counsel), who is exploring possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Russian operatives in the 2016 presidential campaign.
It hasn’t all been doom and gloom.
In August, "The Great American Eclipse," a once-in-a-lifetime full solar eclipse was witnessed by millions as it swept across the contiguous United States of America, passing from the Pacific to the Atlantic coasts.
And the Houston Astros, in November, became World Series champions for the first time in franchise history, beating the Los Angeles Dodgers in seven games.
But, by far, the biggest earthquakes of the year surround the sexual harassment scandals that have rocked the entertainment and journalism professions, even extending into the halls of the U.S. Congress, over the past few months, sparking a revolutionary #MeToo movement, beginning with Hollywood motion picture mogul, Harvey Weinstein, (accused of sexual harassment, assault, and rape of women) Academy Award winning actor Kevin Spacey (accused of sexual assault and abuse), television news icons, Charlie Rose (accused of groping women and making lewd telephone calls) , Matt Lauer, co-host of the Today Show (charged with inappropriate sexual behavior in the workplace), and the recent resignation of Minnesota U.S. Senator Al Franken (multiple groping allegations).
Despite "Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa’s " issued by each of these individuals, (including others) their professional careers appear shattered beyond repair.
To get an idea what stories were the most popular from your favorite websites, I checked in with some editors to see what stories drew the most page views for the year.
What follows are the sites which responded to my emails.
CNN: The top story of 2017 to date for CNN Digital was this explainer of the Las Vegas shooter, which has seen 19.5 million-page views.
New York Times: Most read story of the year on the NYT’s website was their feature on the multiple weapons found in the Las Vegas gunman’s hotel room.
Editors of the Times rounded up their most popular stories, which includes the Harvey Weinstein bombshell, and a judge blocking President Trump’s order on refugees.
L.A. Times: One of the most popular stories of the year at the Times was their Editorial Series: “Our Dishonest President.”
ProPublica: (A nonprofit investigative journalism organization based in New York City). Marc Kasowitz, President Trump’s personal attorney in the Russia case threatening a stranger in a string of profanity-laced emails, was ProPublica’s most read story of the year.
New York Magazine: Their number one piece was “The Uninhabitable Earth “By David Wallace-Wells.
Time Magazine: The most read story on Time's website was their interactive on this summer's solar eclipse.
Other widely read stories at Time.com, included George W. Bush daughters writing the Obama girls a letter, and President Trump's immigration proposals for America.
FiveThirtyEight: (A website which focuses on opinion poll analysis, politics, economics, and sports blogging). FiveThirtyEight's most popular piece was their graphic: "How Popular/Unpopular is Donald Trump?"
FiveThirtyEight's most-read non-interactive, non-live-blog story was " The Real Story Of 2016: What reporters — and lots of data geeks, too — missed about the election, and what they’re still getting wrong" , while their most-read non-interactive, non-live-blog, non-series story was Nate Silver's "Donald Trump’s Base Is Shrinking."
Quartz (qz.com ) - Quartz is a news website owned by Atlantic Media, which operates editions in Africa and India
Some of the most popular stories of year at qz.com includes:
Simple math is why Elon Musk’s companies keep doing what others don’t even consider possible.
Houston’s flooding shows what happens when you ignore science and let developers run rampant.
One of the most common questions in American small talk is considered rude in much of the world.
OpenSecrets.org (Center for Responsive Politics) most popular story of the year was Ashley Balcerzak's story on House Rules changes from early 2017
FBI.Gov: The most popular posting of the year on the FBI's website was their crime statistics for 2016, which reported that violent crime increased for the second consecutive year, property crime decreased for the 14th straight year, with an estimated 17,250 murders in the U.S., an 8.6 percent increase from 2015.
Weather.com: Photos of the Destruction Hurricane Irma Left Behind
Professional Sports:
MLB.com: The most popular story of the year on MLB’s website was the Yankees-Tigers bench clearing clash, which resulted in eight players being ejected during a four-hour, 13-minute donnybrook at Comerica Park in Detroit.
NBA.com: On the NBA's website, Cleveland Cavalier’s point guard, Kyrie Irving's, shocking announcement in requesting a trade so he wouldn't have to share the big stage with LeBron James, was the most popular story of the year.
Social Media
Facebook’s 2017 Year in Review
Twitter's Most Popular Tweets and Accounts of 2017
Instagram’s 2017 Year in Review
The Top Viral YouTube Videos of 2017 (Compiled by Time.com)
--Bill Lucey
December 11, 2017
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