First off, Happy New Year! It has been a great year. The Wausonian has really grown, and come to be one of those names you start hearing around town. It’s really gratifying to hear.
I wanted to look at the most-read Wausonian stories of the year. Generally speaking, they’re the stories that are open to everyone, versus stories only available to paid subscribers. Honestly it’s a mix I’m still experimenting with.
Some of it is also a function of subscriber count. The Wausonian has grown a lot so stories toward the back half of the year had a greater chance of being noticed.
But without further ado, here are the five most-read stories of the year, in reverse order:
Gender Queer book sparks library controversy: It’s no secret that the book Gender Queer brought a lot of controversy as some parents felt it was inappropriate for children. Library officials moved it to the adult section, but other books have come under fire and many believe conservatives punished the library with budget cuts because of its handling of these controversial books.
Perfectly Wausonian No. 2: Cheryl Wolken: This was the second in a new, experimental series: what if we asked notable Wausonians for their recommendations, and see what that says about them? The second in the series, on Wausau’s very own Wausau Mama, became one of the most-read posts of the year.
Breaking: Footlocker/Eastbay to lay off more than 200 workers: The Wausonian typically doesn’t do breaking news but sometimes a story is so big you need to drop what you’re doing and cover it. Such was the case that Footlocker.com/Eastbay, which had been one of the area’s major employers, planned to lay off a number of workers. The company had been moving out of Wausau despite its founding here, so it was one more blow to what had been a Wausau institution.
Finding Sam: I knew I was potentially stepping into a hornet’s nest with this one, but I feel as a non-partisan journalist when I hear an illuminating story from a genuine source, I must share it. A Wausau area mom shares her experience as the mother of a transgender child. I found her story compelling because it came from a genuine place of a mother just trying to figure out a difficult situation to do the best for her child. I knew her to not be particularly politically motivated and what she demonstrates is that these issues are complicated, far more than any political ideology would have you beleive.
1. Wausau News: Conservatives win big on Tuesday’s elections: The only Weekly Wausonian to get onto this list, and it’s the top post of the year. April’s elections signaled a radical shift to the right for most local governing bodies with the exception of the city council. How do we know? Liberal and conservative groups put out candidate checklists for their voters. Though technically non-partisan, such lists are among the plenty of evidence that exists that the days of truly non-partisan elections are long past.
What was your favorite story of the year? What would you like to see more of, or less of? Let me know in the comments, which I am opening to everyone today. (Normally I open comments to paid subscribers only.)
Also of note is our latest breaking story on Eastbay actually fully closing. We’re still trying to learn exactly what that means. The communication around the closing has been horrendous, which is inexcusable for a company that’s been such a major part of the Wausau community. This post might have actually surpassed the previous one by the time you read this.