Wednesday, December 16, 2009

Do they really have to ask?

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

27 comments:

Greg Saulmon said...

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.

In 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.

Anonymous said...

"Do they really have to ask?"

Sure 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?

911 truther said...

i would say that a country covertly attacking their own people and property is number one nationally.

locally? that larry believes it was al quaeda

Greg Saulmon said...

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%.

Side 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.

Larry Kelley said...

Hey Greg,

Sorry 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.

Anonymous said...

"How about all the people bankrupted and losing their homes due to the Bush era?"


Yeah, how about Amherst prozac sucking anarchists destroying their souls and their city from within?

How about that angle on Bush hatred? Hm?

Anonymous said...

Just enjoying all the prosperity Bush brought us while waiting in the bread line.

Anonymous said...

You sure are.

Larry Kelley said...

And not another 9/11 over the remaining seven years of his Presidency.

"In the land of the blind the one-eyed man is king."

Anonymous said...

And FDR only had one Pearl Harbor. One strike and you're out on that one too.

Anonymous said...

Then again, there's the Walmartization of Rt. 9. Bigger impact than 9/11 in the Valley by far.

Larry Kelley said...

Yeah, to Nitwits like you. But then, you're an Anon. So I don't give a damn.

Anonymous said...

It's not what's the bigger story nation-wide. It's the Valley.

Anonymous said...

As 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.

Larry Kelley said...

Yeah and Pearl Harbor happened a long time ago, when your grandparents were in elementary school.

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Larry Kelley said...

Any other bloggers out there having problems with spammers breaking through?

Come on Google, tighten up security would ya!

Anonymous said...

Biggest local story of the decade? No problem. Hands down it is gay legal marriage in Mssachusetts. End of story.

Anonymous said...

Biggest story? Easy. Americans elect a Manchurian Candidate pledged to destroy them.

cinda said...

here it is.....local lumberyard bellies up due to bad karma.

darn!!! I should have donated some public art funds for 'bach's project to get the good karma.

Larry Kelley said...

Now, now. Don't mess with the real Cinda or she will toss you into the woodchipper before they pull the plug.

Anonymous said...

Biggest story? Local Amherst man blows the lid off the middle school bathroom hot water conspiracy

Anonymous said...

Hundreds of children die from luke-warm water, or not.

Anonymous said...

Biggest story?

Crazed-blogger gets No Trespass order.

Anonymous said...

Biggest stories:


School administrators not approached to give back raises.

or

Peter Crouse and Ron Bohonowicz still working for Amherst.

Take your pick.

Anonymous said...

Larry,

Are 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.

Anonymous said...

Dear Anonymous 2:58....

even 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.