VTDigger published 1,144 stories and more than 500 opinion pieces in 2012, along with 3,000 press releases. Our 1.5 person editing team also moderated more than 8,000 comments and reviewed more than 200 tips from readers. In all, 684,000 unique readers came to VTDigger last year and visited the site 2.7 million times.
Sometimes an investigative story that may have taken months to research and write will barely register in the Google analytics popularity contest. Other times, material we’ve dug up from public records requests will make the grade and we’ll get hundreds of Facebook shares and visits to VTDigger.
Most often numbers are driven by controversy or tragic circumstances.
A ban on fracking for natural gas — the first moratorium in the nation of its kind — generated 50,000 unique visits.
An outbreak of whooping cough was one of the most read stories, as was an article about Hurricane Sandy, which narrowly missed Vermont and stirred apprehension borne of the destruction from Tropical Storm Irene in 2011.
This year our own tragedy — the death of 29-year-old former VTDigger reporter Alan Panebaker in mid-September — was among the most shared stories of the year. As was the death of Levis Duclos, who went missing on a hike in Bristol last January and died of hypothermia after the Vermont State Police botched a search and rescue for the 19-year-old student.
Opinion pieces that stir an already boiling pot tend to spread the most quickly. The most read op-eds this year were about gas prices in Chittenden County, Green Mountain College’s failed attempt to slaughter two oxen, the two sides of wind power, a piece about smart meters and a Campaign for Vermont opinion castigating VTDigger’s intern Taylor Dobbs.
Readers were most drawn to press releases about the Cabot Hosiery Mill’s annual sock sale, Switchback Ale’s retail sales announcement, Ron Paul’s rally in Vermont, the state’s largest goat dairy and a much ballyhooed visit from Cesar Milan (the dog whisperer).
The stories
Vermont first state in the nation to ban fracking
http://vtdigger.org/2012/05/04/vermont-first-state-in-nation-to-ban-fracking-for-oil-and-gas/
Alan Panebaker dies in kayaking accident
http://vtdigger.org/2012/09/20/former-vtdigger-staffer-alan-panebaker-dies-in-kayak-accident/
90 percent of whooping cough cases in Vermont among vaccinated children
http://vtdigger.org/2012/10/08/90-percent-of-whooping-cough-cases-in-vermont-among-vaccinated-children/
When a hike in Vermont goes awry, no one may come to the rescue
http://vtdigger.org/2012/02/12/when-a-hike-in-vermont-goes-awry-no-one-may-come-to-the-rescue/
High winds from Sandy headed for Vermont
http://vtdigger.org/2012/10/29/high-winds-from-sandy-headed-for-vermont/
The op-eds
Lazor: The Lowell wind project as seen from Butterworks Farm
http://vtdigger.org/2012/08/23/lazor-the-lowell-wind-project-as-seen-from-butterworks-farm/
Dunsmore: Gas prices and politics
http://vtdigger.org/2012/02/27/dunsmore-gas-prices-and-politics/
Pelham: Words and facts collide
http://vtdigger.org/2012/06/01/pelham-words-and-facts-collide/
Ackerman-Leist: Bill and Lou are a parable for saving our broken food system
http://vtdigger.org/2012/10/30/ackerman-leist-bill-and-lou-are-a-parable-for-saving-our-broken-food-system/
Leas: Wireless vs. wired smart meters
http://vtdigger.org/2012/03/01/leas-wireless-vs-wired-smart-meters/
Press releases
Cabot Hosiery to host 33rd annual sock sale
http://vtdigger.org/2012/10/12/cabot-hosiery-mills-to-host-largest-ever-33rd-annual-sock-sale/
Switchback Brewing Co. to bottle ale
http://vtdigger.org/2012/10/01/switchback-brewing-company-to-bottle-its-signature-ale-for-sale-in-vermont/
Dog whisperer comes to Vermont
http://vtdigger.org/2012/08/05/cesar-millan-noted-dog-whisperer-comes-to-vermont-oct-20/
Ron Paul rallies at Statehouse
http://vtdigger.org/2012/02/10/ron-paul-rally-at-the-house-chamber-on-feb-18/
Creamery, foundation team up to form state’s biggest goat dairy
http://vtdigger.org/2012/03/26/creamery-foundation-partner-to-create-states-biggest-goat-dairy/
