It’s always interesting to see which Riverside-Brookfield Landmark stories received the most interest on the Web. In many cases, the most widely read stories online are pretty predictable — big issue stories.
In 2013, three of the 10 most widely read stories on the Landmark concerned Riverside School District 96. Another District 96 related item that was the fourth-most clicked link in 2013 wasn’t even a story — it was a rather unremarkable letter to the editor endorsing Mary Rose Mangia for the District 96 school board. For whatever reason, that letter became the link everyone clicked on to either leave a comment or read comments being made.
The most-clicked link of the year was not a story that ever appeared in the print version of the Landmark, but it was a big story nonetheless. On April 18 and 19 people went to the Landmark website to get live updates on what was happening in the villages as a record flood was developing.
Starting at about 8:30 a.m. on April 18, the Landmark was a go-to resource for which streets were closed, what areas were subject to flooding, information on village efforts to assist and evacuate residents and for photos and videos of what was taking place.
Readers also left their own news on street closures, complained about the villages’ (and District 96’s) response to the flooding and gave some shout outs to those who pitched in to help.
The No. 2 story was the Election Night coverage of the race in North Riverside, a place where commenters went to virtually shout at each other one last time. And the No. 3 story concerned the senior prank that went awry this fall at Riverside-Brookfield High School.
Here’s the full list:
1. “Des Plaines River at Riverside reaches record level Thursday” (online only live blog of flooding), April 18
2. “VIP sweeps to victory in North Riverside” (election night coverage), April 10
3. “Riverside police, RBHS officials investigate ‘senior prank’ damage,” Oct. 3
4. “Time for clean sweep in District 96” (letter to the editor), Feb. 19
5. “Former North Riverside police chief found dead” (initial online version), June 11
6. “Hermanek talks Costco, hiring and changes in North Riverside,” March 26
7. “Ames principal files suit claiming invasion of privacy,” March 1
8. “Ames School principal resigns,” April 2
9. “Elections 2013” (our special elections page, which included an election night live blog), March 20-April 10
10. “DCFS has no record of District 96 abuse complaint,” Feb. 12
