From awards and accolades, to new research, to building closures and natural disasters, there was no shortage of news happening at pilipiliĀž» in 2010.
A quick scan of the most read Dal News stories of 2010 provides a snapshot of the year that was. Some of the yearās most popular stories were also among the most urgent. Coverage of the closure of the Life Sciences Centre due to asbestos (LSC reopened)Ā and fire (Update on building closures)āin April and July respectivelyāas well as preparations for Hurricane Earl (Getting ready for Earl)Ā in September account for four of the top 15 stories.
But those situations are more the exception than the rule. Generally, the most popular Dal News stories were those which focused on student life, from the behind-the-scenes story of the DSU ālip dubā video (Representing 'Dal-ifornia') to a look at exchange studentsā impressions of life in Canada (Only in Canada you say? Pity). Also popular were profiles of Academic All-Canadian Alex Legge (All-star Academic All-Canadian) and incoming DSU President Chris Saulnier (Chris Saulnier elected DSU president), along with the heartwarming story of 10 year old cancer patient Malachi Rai (A dream come true for 10 year old āDoctor Malachi'), who was named an honorary member of the Dalhousie Medical School Class of 2010.
When it comes to coverage of administrative news, two stories about changes to Dalhousieās website were among the yearās most-read, with stories about the U-Pass program (U-Passes on the way), student ratings of instruction (Rating our own professors) and the Times Higher Education rankings (In good company) also proving popular. And the most-read research story? It was psychology professor Aaron Newmanās exploration into how the brain processes grammar (Wired for grammar).
All in all, Dal News published more content than ever before in 2010ā448 news stories, 40 discussion topics, 48 photo essays, 48 pollsāand in doing so had its biggest year ever for readership. The Dal News website saw a 14 per cent increase in visits and a 15 per cent increase in overall page viewsā905,813 in total.
The top 15 most-read Dal News stories of 2010:
- āLSC reopenedā (April 8) - 9,367 views
- āRepresenting 'Dal-ifornia'ā (August 17)- 6,737 views
- āGetting ready for Earlā (September 1) - 3,997 views
- āUpdate on building closures" (July 25) - 3,497 views
- "All-star Academic All-Canadian" (November 17) - 3,324 views
- āMeet the New Dalhousie homepageā (February 23) - 3,266 views
- āA dream come true for 10 year old āDoctor Malachiāā (June 15) - 3,213 views
- āOnly in Canada you say? Pityā (April 19) - 3,185 views
- āIn good companyā (September 24) - 3,104 views
- āAssessing the damageā (July 27) - 3,076 views
- āRating our own professorsā (April 30) - 3,071 views
- āU-Passes on the wayā (August 18) - 3,033 views
- āChris Saulnier elected DSU presidentā (March 25) - 2,940 views
- āWired for grammarā (May 4) - 2,936 views
- āWeb makeover revealā (October 14) - 2,837 views
SEE ALSO: Spreading the news about Dal research