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Tyee's Most Read Stories in 2013

Election fever, Harper's 'book burning,' Ikea's locked out workers, tattoos, naked men... Here's what clicked.

David Beers 1 Jan 2014TheTyee.ca

David Beers is editor of The Tyee.

The most read stories on The Tyee in the past year include the unsurprising -- much coverage related to the B.C. provincial election -- but also some wild cards, like the Richmond Ikea labour dispute, a scathing obituary for a lawyer to neo-Nazis, and a story about strippers written seven years ago.

We thought it would be interesting to list the top 20 most-read stories in 2013 for two categories of readers -- British Columbians only, and everyone who came to the site. Here goes…

TOP TYEE STORIES READ BY BRITISH COLUMBIANS

1. The Tyee's BC Election 2013 Map and Guide. Actually a multi-page site within The Tyee's overall site, this was the year's mega-magnet for readers, as for nearly three months they were able to click on any riding and get up to the minute stats, background and voting forecasts. Designed by Phillip Smith with help from Geoff D'Auria, and edited by Robyn Smith, the handy reference launched on February 25, making it first out of the gate among similar efforts by other media (though we don't mind asserting ours was the most comprehensive and user friendly).

Readers gripped by down-to-the-wire drama made the Point Grey riding page the most visited within the map and guide, as they stayed up late to watch New Democrat David Eby eke out a victory over Liberal Premier Christy Clark. The second most visited riding page was Vancouver-Fairview, where New Dem George Heyman edged former Liberal cabinet member Margaret MacDiarmid.

2. Richmond Ikea 'Bullying' Employees Back to Work, Union Says: Company insists it cares 'tremendously' about workers as dispute drags on. Tyee labour reporter Tom Sandborn was early to cover this story, published June 12, about a global corporation placing at risk its reputation for conscientiousness by pressing on employees a new two-tiered contract with cutbacks to hours and benefits. A judge ordered Ikea to stop using non-unionized replacement workers during what the union considers a lockout, but the dispute continues -- as has Tyee coverage.

3. Tyee's BC Election 2013 Riding Forecasts: Who'll win where? Where is it too close to call? Presenting our first round of predictions. Guess who we had winning when we published this on April 22? Yep, the NDP. But we were hardly alone in our misconceptions. And note the byline: "Tyee staff." Together, in shamed solidarity, we shoulder the embarrassment of being so far off. Guess we should have been reading more closely our own columnist Rafe Mair, who kept telling Adrian Dix (here, here and here) that his nice-guy approach was going to fail.

4. Harper and His Movement Were No Friends to Mandela: PM is white-washing Conservative party's apartheid-friendly roots. The day after Nelson Mandela was laid to rest, having been eulogized with Prime Minister Harper in solemn attendance, Murray Dobbin published his column revealing the inconvenient truth that young Stephen Harper, in his quest to help build the Reform Party that eventually morphed into the Conservatives, made common cause with right wingers who were well known and even activist in their support of apartheid. That's right, some of the Reform party's most stalwart financial and political backers were just fine with leaving Mandela in jail and maintaining the racist status quo in the nation he eventually led to liberation.

5. Dismantling of Fishery Library 'Like a Book Burning,' Say Scientists: Harper government shuts down 'world class' collection on freshwater science and protection. Andrew Nikiforuk's investigation into the federal government's collapsing of nine science libraries into two quotes scientists likening the move to book burnings, and ruining treasure troves of taxpayer funded science research.

6. Five Reasons to Turf Christy Clark's Liberal Crew: They've proven to be no friends to BC's finances, nature or the truth. Former Socred minister Rafe Mair laid out his case on the eve of voting day. His reasons in order: "The BC Liberals have been lousy fiscal managers" (as evidenced by a 2008 election budget that ended up $1.2 billion out of whack, plus the steeply rising provincial debt). "The BC Libs are destroying three public jewels created by WAC Bennett." Namely BC Ferries, BC Rail and BC Hydro. "The BC Libs have lied about their fiscal plans. This is the same bunch that wants our trust after they promised in the 2009 election that a Harmonized Sales Tax (HST) wasn't even on the radar screen," reminded Mair. "The BC Libs deny the facts about oil risks." And, "The BC Liberal pitch is a dangerous get rich scheme built on dubious dreams." Here, Mair cited the toxic risks posed by fracking natural gas, and the glutted global market driving down prices.

7. Fukushima's Radiation: BC Health Risk, or Fish Tale? Province's public health officer still combating what he says are unnecessary alarms. Freelance reporter Stanley Tromp attempted to get to the bottom of a contentious debate about whether British Columbians face risk from eating fish contaminated by radiation from the Fukushima nuclear disaster. His exploration began with documents obtained via a Freedom of Information request showing that B.C.'s top public health officer, Dr. Perry Kendall, had asked Ottawa to do a special round of testing to put to rest public fears he was convinced were totally unfounded.

8. What Happened to the New Democrats? The day after the Christy Clark-led Liberals won their stunning victory, Tyee staff and contributors offered their reactions. Samples: Mark Leiren-Young: "So apparently the only news outlet that called the election correctly was 24 Hours Vancouver, on the front page, in the ad paid for by the Liberals." Steve Burgess: "People say they hate negative politics. People also say looks and money are unimportant, they love your new hat, and it must have been the dog. People lie." Bill Tieleman: "Bitter? You bet." And dsturdy, one of the readers who collectively posted 184 comments after the story, concluded: "The NDP won seats proportional to their vote. The Liberals were much more efficient winning 59 per cent of the seats with 44.4 per cent of the vote. The Greens were the real losers, getting 1 per cent of the seats with 8+ per cent of the vote. The present system is patently unfair…"

9. Doug Christie: The Unauthorized Obituary: The sower of hate pretended to champion free speech. Like hell. While other media treated the passing of B.C. lawyer Doug Christie as if he had been first and foremost a free speech activist, Victoria-based veteran journalist Tom Hawthorn pulled no punches in reminding that Christie rather selectively "represented a rogue's gallery of losers -- old-time Nazis such as John Ross Taylor, neo-Nazis such as Wolfgang Droege, a couple of Jew-hating school teachers, assorted mixed nuts of white supremacists and Ku Klux Klansmen, and Ernst Zundel, a comic-book Nazi lunatic whose stated disbelief in the Holocaust was matched with a belief the Nazis had UFO bases hidden in Antarctica from which they would complete their quest for global domination." Hawthorn's March 13 account, which included a chilling personal encounter in the courtroom, became a social media sensation among people who appreciate blunt truth trumping craven politesse.

10. The Tyee's Top 10 Ridings to Watch: Swings, high profile contenders, and where BC history could be made. In keeping with the general 2013 theme of election fever, seasoned political reporter Doug Ward's tour of B.C's most dynamic ridings published April 9 pulled in big traffic. Ward presciently listed among his top three to watch Point Grey, where he accurately predicted David Eby was well positioned to win, and Oak Bay-Gordon Head, where "the question is whether Weaver will become B.C.'s first Green MLA or be a spoiler."

11. New Poll Gives Dix 'Insurmountable' 22-Point Lead: Heading into debate, Kinder Morgan controversy likely bolsters NDP says pollster, by Doug Ward. Er, then again, maybe not "insurmountable," despite that having been what the pollster had crowed to our reporter on April 29.

12. Leaks Keep Damaging BC Liberals: So who's behind them? Signs point strongly to a former caucus employee. Tyee Legislative Bureau Chief Andrew MacLeod's sources and his own analysis went far to solve a mystery and drew criticism from many who preferred the question be left publicly unanswered.

13. Surveying the Rubble after BC's Election: The future of our province was at stake; the results disastrous. Saying I told you so gave Rafe Mair no pleasure on May 27. "It's not as if Dix wasn't warned -- by me for one who fruitlessly advised him that politics is a blood sport and that he had to depend upon pounding home the main issues…"

14. Which coincidentally nestles in just one spot ahead of Mair's February 4 column: Rafe Mair to Adrian Dix: 'Row like Hell': Keep coasting and your New Democrats could lose the May 14 election.

15. What's Driving Chaotic Dismantling of Canada's Science Libraries? Scientists reject Harper gov't claims vital material is being saved digitally. Andrew Nikiforuk's second report on the federal government's closing of science libraries. Supposedly all that vital, taxpayer-funded material would be shifted to digital form making it more accessible. That's what the government's website says, anyway. But Nikiforuk interviewed more than a half-dozen scientists who called B.S on that, reporting that actually much of the world class libraries' collections were being haphazardly lost. The story went viral two days before Christmas, making the front page of Reddit.

16. What Role Did RCMP Play in BC Bomb Plot? US expert says local story fits troubling pattern of FBI counterterrorism stings. Journalist Bob Mackin interviewed a U.S. investigative reporter who said the story told by the Mounties "sounds a lot like the pattern we see here where you find these people who want to commit some sort of act of violence, they just have a general, vague idea of what they want to do, and then the FBI -- through the sting operation -- provides everything including the explosives," The reporter coordinated a database for Mother Jones called "Terrorists for the FBI: Inside the bureau's secret network that surveils and entraps Americans."

17. BC Minister's Son Beat Odds to Win Residency Spot: Graduating from an Irish medical school, he'll finish training in UBC division his father heads. Tyee Legislative Bureau Chief Andrew MacLeod broke the story that former minister Moira Stilwell, who in 2011 wrote a report for the health ministry on repatriating foreign medical students to B.C., happened to have a son in just that situation.

18. Calgary's Manhattan Moment: I only hope my city's nightmare is the climate change wake-up Alberta, and Canada, needs. Award-winning energy journalist Andrew Nikiforuk connected the dots between a flooded Calgary's source of wealth, climate change and denial.

19. Global Labour Leaders Vow Action in Richmond Ikea Fight: Ongoing dispute now 'under the gaze of a wider labour movement', says international union brass. Veteran reporter Rod Mickleburgh covered the Nov. 8 arrival of international trade union representatives investigating the Ikea lockout. "We will do everything we can that's in our power," declared Peter Lövkvist, secretary of the Nordic Transport Workers' Federation, which represents 400,000 union members across all five Nordic countries, including IKEA's home base of Sweden. "We're not ruling anything out." The story continued to unfold here.

20. The First Thing BC's NDP Needs to Change: It's their approach to campaigning and politics in general. Here's why. Rafe Mair, perhaps fittingly, gets the last word in this list. His June 10 column advises: "Stand outside with your nose against the window pane and snivel. Or batter down the door and help yourself to the goodies therein."

MOST READ STORIES BY ALL WHO CAME TO THE TYEE

Many of the top stories in the B.C. readers' list pop up on this one, albeit in a different order. But Rob Ford and male strippers (oddly, not in the same story) also show up this time, along with a few other surprises.

1. What's Driving Chaotic Dismantling of Canada's Science Libraries? Scientists reject Harper gov't claims vital material is being saved digitally. By Andrew Nikiforuk (See #15 in the BC Readers list above for a description.)

2. The Tyee's BC Election 2013 Map and Guide. (See #1 in the BC Readers list above for a description.)

3. Harper and His Movement Were No Friends to Mandela: PM is white-washing Conservative party's apartheid-friendly roots. By Murray Dobbin (See #4 in the BC Readers list above for a description.)

4. Dismantling of Fishery Library 'Like a Book Burning,' Say Scientists: Harper government shuts down 'world class' collection on freshwater science and protection. By Andrew Nikiforuk (See #5 in the BC Readers list above for a description.)

5. The Sailors' Art of Tattoos: Finely etched scrimshaw, too. Vancouver's Maritime Museum more than scratches the surface. Jesse Donaldson, journalist and chronicler of B.C. history, keyed off a compelling exhibit to delve deeply into the methods and meaning of inked skin on the high seas.

6. Calgary's Manhattan Moment: I only hope my city's nightmare is the climate change wake-up Alberta, and Canada, needs. By Andrew Nikiforuk (See #18 in the BC Readers list above for a description.)

7. How Rob Ford's Meltdown Could Save Toronto: Mayor's latest outrageous behavior may be catalyst city needs to open de-amalgamation debate. Tyee regular contributor Mitchell Anderson found on May 23 a silver lining in Rob Ford's bizarre unraveling -- an opening to revoke the "shotgun wedding" that merged Toronto with five suburbs, empowering Ford's angry, hardly progressive "nation." Suddenly a lot more Torontonians were reading The Tyee, and then the Toronto Star reprinted Anderson's piece.

8. The Naked Truth about Male Stripping: Taking it off can be a dangerous job. Funny thing about the Internet; some articles never seem to die. And this one, published Jan. 6, 2006, is a good example. It's a fascinating, sympathetic look at the risks and rewards faced by male strippers written by the talented journalist Danielle Egan. Whether people who click on it these many years later think they are going to find something different is hard to say, though the average time spent on the page is a bit, well, truncated. In any case, it's the gift to The Tyee that keeps giving. Thanks Danielle!

9. Tyee's BC Election 2013 Riding Forecasts: Who'll win where? Where is it too close to call? Presenting our first round of predictions. By Tyee staff. (See #3 in the BC Readers list above for a description.)

10. Understanding Harper's Evangelical Mission: Signs mount that Canada's government is beholden to a religious agenda averse to science and rational debate. This article by Andrew Nikiforuk racked up huge numbers when it was published in March of 2012, and, as they say in web-speak, it has a very long tail. People are still apparently fascinated to read about the fundamentalist teachings of Prime Minister Harper's Alliance Church and how they may be reflected in policy shifts pressed by the Harper government.

11. Fukushima's Radiation: BC Health Risk, or Fish Tale? Province's public health officer still combating what he says are unnecessary alarms. By Stanley Tromp. (See #7 in the BC Readers list above for a description.)

12. Doug Christie: The Unauthorized Obituary: The sower of hate pretended to champion free speech. Like hell. By Tom Hawthorn (See #9 in the BC Readers list above for a description.)

13. What Happened to the New Democrats? By Tyee staff and contributors. (See #8 in the BC Readers list above for a description.)

14. Tyee Launches Crash Course in Climate Change: Cut through the smoke, learn the facts, win debates. In eight easy lessons starting today. This kicked of a highly-read series by Eric Nadal that provided not only the easy to understand facts but also a quiz just to assure you have achieved climate geek status. Nadal is a Vancouver-based writer and UBC graduate with degrees spanning physics, planetary science, ethics and the philosophy of science. Expertly edited by Chris Wood, the entire course is available here and there's even a certificate you can download once you've completed.

15. Seven Solutions to Homelessness: Each is working somewhere else, and will save money and lives here. What does it mean that former Tyee investigative editor Monte Paulsen's 2007 article outlining proven approaches to solving homelessness remains one of The Tyee's top read pieces? Pessimists might conclude that homelessness hasn't been solved six years later. Optimists might note that people are still reading up on how to accomplish the feat.

582px version of PHOTO4.ikea.jpg
Ikea's lockout of unionized workers who rejected a diminished, two-tier contract made the top 20 for both BC readers and all who came to the site. Photo via Teamster Local 213 Facebook page.

16. Alberta's Tar Sands Pollution Refugees: 'Gassed' by oil sands operations, families say they've been forced to evacuate. Andrew Nikiforuk's March 2 investigation into complaints by citizens living near Baytex's venting tanks containing bitumen helped prompt an investigation by the Alberta Energy Regulator, as he later reported here on Dec. 26.

17. Not Your Parents' Climate: A US study of more than 1,100 pages catalogues changes already occurring. We boil it down. Veteran journalist and Tyee Solutions Society editor Chris Wood got a hold of the new draft report from the U.S. National Climate Assessment and Development Advisory Committee which surveyed thousands of scientific studies to summarize what has already changed in the climate affecting the United States. Much of what they found is also relevant to Canada, so Wood parsed and presented key excerpts with the NCADAC's permission.

18. How Harper's Office Is Playing News Editor: Can you spot the 'scoops' that a PMO flack provided to journalists? Tyee contributing editor Shannon Rupp was in typically superb form on June 20 as she used wit, logic and connections within the journalism world to lay bare "how the PMO is fabricating news and dictating attacks on Harper's opponents."

19. Richmond Ikea 'Bullying' Employees Back to Work, Union Says: Company insists it cares 'tremendously' about workers as dispute drags on. By Tom Sandborn. (See #5 in the BC Readers list above for a description.)

20. Eight Ways to Take Part in Idle No More: It's about common goals, not colonial guilt, says one young Heiltsuk woman. Jess Housty, a community organizer and tribal councilor in Bella Bella, wrote this practical and inspiring guide in response to people (both indigenous and not) asking her what Idle No More is all about and how people can get involved.

Just a few notes before signing off. These are the most read pieces on The Tyee in 2013, but that's only one way to measure any journalist's impact. Take for example the reporting Jeremy Nuttall did on the Chinese coal miners brought into B.C. through the federal Temporary Foreign Workers Program. In October of 2012 Nuttall broke the story of temp miners being illegally charged fees to come to Canada and covered the entire saga well into 2013, piling up 34 stories that gained thousands of page views in the process. You can find them all by scrolling down his output here. At the Tyee, we not only strive to break important stories, we aim to sustain them. A big thanks, then, to Jeremy and every journalist who contributed their skills to our pages in 2013. You are the reason The Tyee remains read and relevant.

And a final, heartfelt thank you to all who come to The Tyee's pages. And especially to our amazing community of Tyee Builders, who this year made history by contributing over $100,000 to The Tyee's effort to expand its national content in the coming year. You amazed, humbled and energized us with your generosity. Here's to many more scoops in 2014!  [Tyee]

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