Natalee Returns
That's right: The tale of the Alabama teen who went missing in Aruba almost two years ago* is still attracting enough eyeballs to qualify as the top story on the site.
The enduring popularity of the Holloway story reminds of something CBS News Vice President and London Bureau Chief Jennifer Siebens said to me a couple weeks ago, when talking about covering celebrity trials in Los Angeles.
"…people always say, 'Well, how can you do that? It's so bottom feeding. It's not important,'" said Siebens. "You know what? Every news organization finds a spike – readers, viewers are interested. And you will never find anybody who says they watched the OJ Simpson trial, the first one that was televised. Everybody's ratings went through the roof. But nobody watched it!"
That's how it's been with this story: Constant criticism of the media for excessive coverage of a tragic but insignificant story that we can't seem to tear ourselves away from. I have a feeling that if people stopped paying attention to this case, most members of the press corps would be happy to follow suit.
*Correction: Holloway disappeared almost two years ago, not nine months ago as I initially wrote.