On March 3, the Vanguard moved its website from the blogger site to its own server. One thing that the new site can do is track the number of people who read a particular article. Here are the top 10 most read stories for 2009.
One thing that we learn quickly is that those with the most comments are not necessarily those that are the most read. Measure P articles definintely generated the most discussion but only two of them land in the top 10.
2. Crowd Protests Sentence of Ajay Dev Sentenced to 378 Years Last Week – August 12, 2009. One of the bigger stories that the Vanguard followed was the 378 year sentence that was imposed on Ajay Dev for the rape of his adopted daughter. This protest drew 100 people to the front of the District Attorney’s Office in Woodland.
3. Measure P Rebuttal Statements Turned In – August 31, 2009. The first of two articles from Measure P, a topic that was the most commented upon during the year. This particular article drew 143 comments and the controversy regarding the ballot language for the November Measure J vote on the Wildhorse Ranch Project.
4. The Vanguard Fights To Protect Anonymity of Commenters – August 8, 2009. The Vanguard got involved in a legal action when lawyers for Office Calvin Chang subpoened information related to the identity of posters who made disparaging comments in a previous article. There would be a later Sacramento Bee article on this that got a good deal of publicity across the web, however, this article generated a heated discussion about anonymity in posts on the Vanguard. By the end of the year the Vanguard would require registration for the first time.
5. Word to the Wise – The Creation of Artificial Debt – July 22, 2009. The most read article not written by David Greenwald. Elaine Roberts Musser wrote it as a criticism of homeowner associations. It was another article that would generate more readership from search engines than it did initially from Vanguard readership.
6. Hundreds March in Woodland Against DA’s Abuse of Power – August 23, 2009. The District Attorney became a huge issue in 2009 due to the shooting of Luis Gutierrez and the sentencing of Ajay Dev. The two issues joined forces in August to create a 300 person march on a Saturday night in Woodland with the County Fair in Full Swing. Officially the protesters called for a federal investigation into the shooting of Mr. Gutierrez however, that was only one of several issues raised that evening.
7. Why Do Firefighters Make Substantially More Than Police Officers in Davis? – May 27, 2009. Vanguard investigative report showing a huge discrepancy in the salaries between the firefighters in Davis and the police. It also shows the huge discrepancy between the amount contributed to council candidates by the firefighters and police. The firefighters were a huge issue again in 2009 with the Grand Jury case, the contracts, the pensions, the MOU, Citygate and the battalion chief model.
8. Voters Resoundingly Say No To New Growth – November 4, 2009. Article ran the day after the election that gave Measure P, the Measure J vote on Wildhorse Ranch, an overwhelming defeat.
10. Guest Commentary: UC Davis’ Killing Fields – September 5, 2009. This was an article from Fraser Schilling depicting the carnage caused by the plows that began work on West Village which did a number on the squirrel and rabbit population in the fields. The article generated considerable discussion.
Honorable mention: Kevin Wolf’s Response To Vanguard on Alternative Measure J Proposal – November 23, 2009. This was the 11th biggest article, we threw it in because it generated a lot of discussion after the Measure P vote. Kevin Wolf had proposed alterations to Measure J to get an earlier vote. This was criticized in the Vanguard and this article and the ensuing discussion were written in response.
—David M. Greenwald reporting
“4. The Vanguard Fights To Protect Anonymity of Commenters – August 8, 2009. The Vanguard got involved in a legal action when lawyers for Office Calvin Chang subpoened information related to the identity of posters who made disparaging comments in a previous article. There would be a later Sacramento Bee article on this that got a good deal of publicity across the web, however, this article generated a heated discussion about anonymity in posts on the Vanguard. By the end of the year the Vanguard would require registration for the first time.”
IMHO, registration has resulted in much less lively discussion, so that now too often the commentary is between just a few regulars. I don’t pay nearly as much attention to the comment section, and rarely comment myself, whereas I used to almost daily.
“5. Word to the Wise – The Creation of Artificial Debt – July 22, 2009. The most read article not written by David Greenwald. Elaine Roberts Musser wrote it as a criticism of homeowner associations. It was another article that would generate more readership from search engines than it did initially from Vanguard readership.”
This is a hot button issue – many are being foreclosed on bc of shady debt collection practices in HOAs.