The Why Of What Gets Read
Media critics like to grouse that the media doesn't offer people enough serious news. News outlets have an easy defense to this charge: They're just giving people what they want. But what, exactly, do they want? To help shed some light on that question, we today begin a semi-regular feature in which we show – and discuss – the top stories of the day on CBSNews.com. Some days we'll contrast them to the top stories on Yahoo or other outlets. Other days we'll look at the top video or interactive elements on the site instead of the top stories. But each day we'll try to give a sense of what people are interested in – and throw in a little commentary for good measure.
Here are yesterday's top ten stories:
1. Whose Life Is It Anyway? 60 Minutes
Are Employers' Lifestyle Policies Discriminatory?
2. Gamer: Playing Through The Pain
The Story Of Steven Burkeland Flies Against Push To Regulate Video Games
3. Reporter: Not Sure Libby Perjurer Early Show
Time's Cooper On His Conversation With Now Ex-Cheney Top Aide
4. The Exposure Of Valerie Plame 60 Minutes
Husband Of Unmasked CIA Agent Says She's Been Threatened
5. Pastor Electrocuted During Baptism
Killed By Electric Shock While Standing In Baptismal Water
6. Bracing For Battle Over Court Pick
Conservatives Cheer, Liberals Criticize Supreme Court Nominee Alito
7. Roberts Apologizes, Calls Choice Of Words "Unfortunate"
CBS Correspondent Apologizes For Question Phrasing
8. Bush To Dems: Boo!
Cohen: Alito's Nomination Sets The Stage For A Nasty Fight
9. Prince Charles On Being Relevant 60 Minutes
Being Prince Isn't Always Easy, England's Heir Says
10. The Afterlife: Real Or Imagined?
A Glimpse Into The Search For Life After Death
A few things to keep in mind: Some of these stories were shown in more desirable places on the site than others – and just like a bag of potato chips at the supermarket has a better chance of being picked up at the end of an aisle, a story is more likely to get clicked on if it's in a prominent spot. Also, some stories can be posted more than once – a story you'll see with a "60 Minutes" or "Early Show" tag, for example, might have appeared both on the main page and on the page of those shows. Some stories seemingly randomly get a number of links from other sites, while others get ignored. A few other points, noted by associate producer Gina Pace: Some stories go up earlier in the day than others, and others feature "images that makes you want to see what the story was about," which drive traffic.
Now let's have a look at the list. From a journalistic perspective, the Samuel Alito nomination was unquestionably the top story of the day yesterday. But it was only the sixth most popular at CBSNews.com – even though it was the lede story on the site all day long. The top story, Whose Life Is It Anyway, dealt with the fact that "more and more that cigarette, or drink at home, that political candidate you supported, even your eating habits, are coming under the scrutiny of your boss." I can't share exact numbers with you, but I can tell you that was by far the most popular story on the site yesterday – more than twice as popular as the runner up. Why? It's impossible to say exactly, but the researchers would likely tell you it has a lot to do with the fact that it's a lifestyle story – the kind that deals with how we go about our day. Even if he may impact your life down the road, Alito isn't going to affect you directly and immediately – unlike that boss who won't let you have a cigarette on your break.
The number two story of the day was a weekly video game column by assistant producer William Vitka. I asked Vitka – who, conveniently, sits across the room from me – where he thinks the traffic comes from. "Most of the traffic comes from just the gamer base – specifically when you get links from big time video game blogs and web comics," he said, mentioning Kotaku and ctrl+alt+del as important sources of hits. Yesterday's column, he said, looked at the positives of gaming, something about which he says "there aren't many mainstream press reports." The relatively high traffic of the column suggests that in an ultra-fragmented media world, serving a subculture well pays off. After all, you can read about Alito anywhere, but cnn.com doesn't really offer anything in direct competition with Vitka's column.
Next, I want to jump down to story number seven – John Roberts' apology for some injudicious words during a media "gaggle." That's an item we ran here at Public Eye, and, to be frank, it's not really the kind of thing I think the average American gets terribly interested in. But Matt Drudge featured Roberts' slip of the tongue all morning on his highly-trafficked site, and it was soon picked up by bloggers and media critics, who linked to our subsequent item featuring Roberts' apology. If Vitka's story attracted one subculture, ours attracted another – media/political bloggers, curious journalists, and those obsessed with the debate over bias in the media. (For proof that the apology attracted people in that last category, check out the reader comments that follow it.)
That's it for this edition of…wait, we don't even have a name for this feature yet! Feel free to suggest one in comments, and/or tell us what you'd like to see us focus on next time around.