My friends at the Springfield Republican are doing a survey looking for the "top local news story of the decade." One of the many possible responses is: "The terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001 claim the lives of at least 18 people with ties to Western Massachusetts."
You don't need a journalism background to figure out the correct answer.
The Springfield Republican reports
I should probably clarify in that post -- we'll be using the results from the poll to create a top 10 list for the decade.
ReplyDeleteIn order to simplify the procedure (for both readers and myself), I asked people to vote for just one story. That'll allow me to do a quick ranking of the stories, rather than wrangling with (potentially) dozens or hundreds of responses requiring more extensive tabulation.
But it's kind of an experiment, too, and I'm curious to see what happens for a decade in which one story (9/11) was so dominant. If 9/11 gets 100% of the vote -- well, then, the "top 10" idea is shot, but it's an interesting result in and of itself.
Thanks for your thoughts, as always.
"Do they really have to ask?"
ReplyDeleteSure they do. It's not necessarily the biggest story.
How about all the young men and women killed or wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan?
How about all the people bankrupted and losing their homes due to the Bush era?
i would say that a country covertly attacking their own people and property is number one nationally.
ReplyDeletelocally? that larry believes it was al quaeda
Quick update -- 9/11 is topping the list with 36%, but the Molly Bish story is at 17%, Obama's election is at 15%, and the Sox winning the 2004 Series has 13%.
ReplyDeleteSide note: for the top stories of 2009, I'm going to run a comparison of the poll results vs. actual web traffic throughout the year. I think that'll be interesting.
Hey Greg,
ReplyDeleteSorry about the Local Buzz.
Yeah, considering a few weeks back the media was in a complete tizzy over the Tiger Woods affair (pun intended) while four uniformed police officers getting massacred in a Seattle coffee shop only garnered one-quarter the attention, I'm not surprised the "The Boston Red Sox the 2004 first World Series -- their first in 86 years" is also doing well at the moment although not as well as Barack Obama getting elected (which I would have voted for if 9/11 had only finished out as beautiful a day as it started.)
And as a guy who teaches self defense I too was pretty much in a tizzy over the Molly Bish story.
"How about all the people bankrupted and losing their homes due to the Bush era?"
ReplyDeleteYeah, how about Amherst prozac sucking anarchists destroying their souls and their city from within?
How about that angle on Bush hatred? Hm?
Just enjoying all the prosperity Bush brought us while waiting in the bread line.
ReplyDeleteYou sure are.
ReplyDeleteAnd not another 9/11 over the remaining seven years of his Presidency.
ReplyDelete"In the land of the blind the one-eyed man is king."
And FDR only had one Pearl Harbor. One strike and you're out on that one too.
ReplyDeleteThen again, there's the Walmartization of Rt. 9. Bigger impact than 9/11 in the Valley by far.
ReplyDeleteYeah, to Nitwits like you. But then, you're an Anon. So I don't give a damn.
ReplyDeleteIt's not what's the bigger story nation-wide. It's the Valley.
ReplyDeleteAs a UMass student, I don't know anyone who thinks about 9/11 that much. It happened a long time ago when we were in elementary school.
ReplyDeleteYeah and Pearl Harbor happened a long time ago, when your grandparents were in elementary school.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteAny other bloggers out there having problems with spammers breaking through?
ReplyDeleteCome on Google, tighten up security would ya!
Biggest local story of the decade? No problem. Hands down it is gay legal marriage in Mssachusetts. End of story.
ReplyDeleteBiggest story? Easy. Americans elect a Manchurian Candidate pledged to destroy them.
ReplyDeletehere it is.....local lumberyard bellies up due to bad karma.
ReplyDeletedarn!!! I should have donated some public art funds for 'bach's project to get the good karma.
Now, now. Don't mess with the real Cinda or she will toss you into the woodchipper before they pull the plug.
ReplyDeleteBiggest story? Local Amherst man blows the lid off the middle school bathroom hot water conspiracy
ReplyDeleteHundreds of children die from luke-warm water, or not.
ReplyDeleteBiggest story?
ReplyDeleteCrazed-blogger gets No Trespass order.
Biggest stories:
ReplyDeleteSchool administrators not approached to give back raises.
or
Peter Crouse and Ron Bohonowicz still working for Amherst.
Take your pick.
Larry,
ReplyDeleteAre you really stating that not another 9/11 in teh remaining years of Bush's presidency is something worth talking about?
Are you also going to stand there and say the Iraq war was legal and worth the lives and money?
How many American soldiers died? How many wouded? How many Iraquis dead and wounded.
How the the tens of thousands killed and wounded in that war be a smaller story than 9/11?
Bush is a murderer who should be tried and convicted. I believe someone else doing what he did would get the death penalty. He has certainly put to death many, many people who committed far fewer crimes than he did.
Dear Anonymous 2:58....
ReplyDeleteeven tho' two wrongs don't make a right:
I have to ask you, do you think Afghanistan going to be a "nobody is gonna get hurt" war?
?? H.T.