In the last of our “top Web stories of 2010” series, we present to you the most commented stories of the year.
As might be expected, a few opinion pieces and letters make this list.
10. Our view: Mosque may have outgrown Bartlett Street location
This editorial, a reaction to the news story also on this list, asked if it was the best idea for the city to permit a mosque with a 98-person occupancy and an area with only 17 parking spaces. The understanding was that most people would walk to attend the mosque, but neighbors complained about cars parked on their property.
9. Sun Journal makes changes to rules for online commenting
After a lot of careful thought and several newsroom discussions, we decided to limit online comments to only those who were willing to display their real first and last names to the world to see.
8. Letter: Wake up to media lies
In September, George Jones of Otisfield wrote to the Sun Journal, warning readers that “there are hundreds of stories out there — good and bad — that need to be told. The media need to wake up.”
The letter struck a chord with SunJournal.com commenters, who took sides both pro- and against Fox News, which was named in the letter.
7. Our view: Distinctions lost in debate over Manhattan mosque
In previous years, national stories often entered our top 10 most viewed stories list, but this year was not the case. On the most commented list, though, the topic of mosques in New York City near the cite of the World Trade Center towers hit close to home for our readers.
6. Levesque: License suspension, driving record “irrelevant” to congressional bid
A month before elections, in October, we pulled Jason Levesque’s driving record, which revealed that the Auburn resident and Republican candidate for state representative had a suspended license after incurring too many points. Readers weighed in on whether or not the suspension would impact his ability to be a qualified congressman.
Ed McCaffrey wrote to support our new anti-pseudonym policy at the Sun Journal that will go into effect Feb. 1. Those who rejected the policy (and those who support it) came out in full force on Ed’s letter.
4. Students: Police overreacted to party
We went to the Bates campus to attend a rally to protest the way the Lewiston Police Department responded to the semester’s-end party where 11 students were arrested. Lines were quickly drawn in the comments between those in the Bates community and many of our regular commenters.
3. Mosque parking raises heat at meeting
Councilors asked Bartlett Street neighbors to talk to each other, hoping to head off bigger problems smoldering between members of a mosque and nearby property owners.
2. Burning desire: A Lewiston mother struggles with her fire-setting 7-year-old
One of the most commented stories of the year was that of Raequann Lunt, a 7-year-old boy who compulsively sets fires, and his family, who struggled to find a way to pay for his treatment.
The story, which ran in July, accumulated 170 comments from people around the community who weighed in on the struggles that Raequann’s mother Laura Foster faced. Many of the commenters disagreed with our decision to run the Raequann’s story with his full name and his mother’s full name on the front page of the Sunday paper.
1. Bates party results in injuries, arrests
This story’s comments, like the other story about the Bates party in this list, quickly became a dispute over the college students’ and the Lewiston Police Department’s actions. We had dozens of new user registrations that day in order to comment on this story, which totalled 276 comments.
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- Laura Foster of Lewiston with her 7 year old son.
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