The ten most popular Standard posts of 2014

Written By: - Date published: 8:36 am, December 31st, 2014 - 26 comments
Categories: The Standard - Tags:

And now for a list of the ten most viewed posts of the year.  Interestingly the list has little comparison with the list of the ten most commented on posts with there being only three posts on both lists.

It was a big year for the Standard with August and September being by far the most popular months the site has ever had. Total page views during the year were 27% higher than any previous year. Between the election and Dirty Politics there was a lot to write about and discuss.

And now for the envelope …

Tenth was Stephanie Rodgers’ post election essay on how the return of National to power may not affect her personally too much but there were others living in New Zealand for who a continuation of the current regime will be a calamity.  Her conclusion, that the campaign to get rid of National in 2017 has to start immediately because we have to do better for everyone.

Ninth was the announcement of Andrew Little’s election to the Labour Leadership.  The result was a close thing but two months on and there is overwhelming support within the party for Andrew and confidence that he can do the job.

Eighth was lprent’s post on the Kim Dotcom organised Moment of Truth meeting held just before the election. The Greenwald and Snowden contributions were very important and disturbing but everything went pear shaped when Kim Dotcom failed to deliver the “smoking gun” linking Key to Warners and the decision to raid Dotcom mansion.  The produced email was denied by Warners and the allegation fizzled.

Seventh was Karol’s live post on the launch of Nicky Hager’s book Dirty Politics.  New Zealand politics will never be the same.

Sixth was Karol’s post of the announcement that Shane Jones was quitting politics to take up a job organised by National.  The ethics of this still disturb me as there seems to be something wrong in a Government using public money to persuade an opposition Member of Parliament to resign from politics.

Fifth was Lprent’s post on how Facebook pages critical of John Key and his Government were apparently being shut down by Facebook.  This post attracted over 1,000 Facebook comments or likes which may help explain its popularity.

The fourth was a guest post by former Police Undercover officer Rob Gilchrist on his dealings with Nicky Hager and how he completely trusted Hager and respected his judgement.  Gilchrist is well known for his previous work in infiltrating left wing groups.

Third was Rocky’s post Brestapo post on how Carrick Graham bought and paid for posts on Whaleoil attacking breastfeeding and suggesting that infant formula is better.  Again large Facebook and twitter activity pushed the number of views up.

Second was the election night watch.  Reading it brings back many painful memories …

And the most popular post on the Standard in 2014 was …

[Drumroll … ]

Stephanie Rodgers post on the cost of a bowl of weetbix where she took on Nicky Kaye for Kaye’s support for a claim that breakfast for a kid cost only 55c.  Stephanie countered with a realistic if optimistic weekly budget that showed how little beneficiaries had to live on.  Huge Facebook activity (over 9,000 likes or comments) boosted this post.  It is also the second most popular post ever published on the Standard.

Happy new year to you all.  May 2015 be better for the planet and for all progressive movements than 2014 was.

 

26 comments on “The ten most popular Standard posts of 2014 ”

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  1. millsy 1
    31 December 2014 at 9:23 am

    Regarding Nikki and her weetbix – isnt it interesting how her mates came in and defended her in that post from out of nowhere.

    Probably might be worth mentioning that she was mentioned as being in the Chaos and Mayhem grouop with several other right wing bloggers and commenters such as Chuck Bird and Insolent Prick.

    • mickysavage 1.1
      31 December 2014 at 10:02 am

      The Facebook activity suggests that the post went onto a few right wing Facebook pages. This particular debate (beneficiaries can survive really well) always frustrates me, on the right there are a couple of anecdotal stories suggesting one particular reality but the basic facts of the situation suggests that reality is entirely different.

      • karol 1.1.1
        31 December 2014 at 10:15 am

        How telling that a significant number of right wingers would put so much effort into burying the truth of beneficiaries lives.

        That, and I also am staggered that any MP would want to work with the likes of the ethically-challenged Chaos and Mayhem bunch.

        • greywarshark 1.1.1.1
          2 January 2015 at 11:38 am

          @ karol
          You will be staggering much I should think as being involved with right wing dirty propaganda and methods has been the choice of our Prime Minister, their leader and style setter. Are there any NACTs who aren’t destitute of respect for all fellow citizens and their sacred task of running the country intelligently for the benefit of the whole country not just their own gang? Please name them so we can honour their principles in practice.

          In the USA the self-promoting elite used to exclude certain people from their clubs, they would ‘blackball’ Jews and other people of merit. In the NewZi New Order that approach is the norm, though people can buy their way in.
          http://www.thefreedictionary.com/blackball
          edited

  3. Tracey 3
    31 December 2014 at 12:41 pm

    great stuff… it is good to see issues of political integrity and the lot of beneficiaries being widely read.

    kudos to all you authors cos the number of different folk commenting clearly doesnt reflect the size of readership.

    keep writing, provoking and critically thinking. cos you have proven people can do all three at once

  4. lprent 4
    31 December 2014 at 4:57 pm

    What has been interesting over the past year in particular has been the traction of our existing readers and commenters – even after a disappointing election.

    But this year has also been the year of the increasing numbers of unique readers who repeatably read the site from other social media outside of political blogs. When we get a post that crosses into other social networks like many amongst those listed here, we also pick up some dedicated readers. Some remain lurkers, others wind up commenting. And they come from inside nz rather than being clickbait from google

    But what they come to look at are the posts that question preconceived wisdoms and generally they discuss them elsewhere. Some of the discussions in other forums have been intense. Especially the weetbix and brestapo posts but also many others.

    It all helps in widening the political debate as well.

  5. Murray Rawshark 5
    31 December 2014 at 7:12 pm

    “The fourth was a guest post by former Police Undercover officer Rob Gilchrist”

    Gilchrist was not a police undercover officer. He was a filthy treacherous narking piece of shit. An undercover poaka has the feeble excuse that they are doing their job. Filthy slimy narks are just the lowest form of life. They are worse than pedophiles because they make a conscious choice to betray those whose confidences they slime their way into. Pedophiles suffer from a sickness not of their own choosing. Please use the correct terminology.

    • The Al1en 5.1
      31 December 2014 at 7:29 pm

      “They are worse than pedophiles because they make a conscious choice to betray those whose confidences they slime their way into. Pedophiles suffer from a sickness not of their own choosing. Please use the correct terminology.”

      Not sure I agree with that ill thought out shock jock analogy.
      The narker can only nark if the narkee has done something worthy of narking on.
      Paedos sickness not of their choosing, as you describe it, hurt innocent children regardless.

      I would say narker > Paedophile, always.

      • Murray Rawshark 5.1.1
        31 December 2014 at 7:43 pm

        “The narker can only nark if the narkee has done something worthy of narking on.”

        Not correct. They instigate incidents, they make shit up, and in the case of Gilchrist, I’d argue that the groups he narked on weren’t doing anything wrong. They become part of a repressive police apparatus that damages democratic practice.

        As for rankings, each to their own. They occupy the two last places in mine anyway.

        • Anne 5.1.1.1
          1 January 2015 at 6:59 pm

          “The narker can only nark if the narkee has done something worthy of narking on.”

          Not correct. They instigate incidents, they make shit up…

          Spot on MR. Not only do they instigate incidents and make shit up… they embellish, distort and if necessary will carry out illegal activity in an effort to gather ‘evidence’ they can then misconstrue to back their case. They can destroy an innocent person’s life and often get clean away with it. If a state agency gets involved and falls for their crap then the victim ends up becoming a victim all over again.

          • The Al1en 5.1.1.1.1
            1 January 2015 at 7:01 pm

            But worse than paedos Anne, even if ‘narkers’ makes stuff up, really? That being the point of contention. Remember the context?

            • Anne 5.1.1.1.1.1
              1 January 2015 at 7:23 pm

              The narkers don’t always just nark The Al1en. They sometimes carry out acts of sabotage and even commit forms of clandestine violence… then turn around and accuse the victim of their own behaviour. That can have a more devastating consequence than the narking.

              Anyway, I was merely agreeing with Murray Rawshark re- the serious impact narkers can have on individuals and groups of individuals.

  6. The Al1en 6
    31 December 2014 at 7:51 pm

    I don’t know or care that much about the narker in question, but despite your rankings, will always put a kiddie fiddler below any cop or undercover agent on list of shame, in fact, I wouldn’t even put them in the same street, but individualism and all that.

    • Murray Rawshark 6.1
      1 January 2015 at 12:04 am

      I have seen your instinctive love for authority come out before, but Gilchrist was neither cop nor undercover agent. He was a flea who infiltrated protest groups and sold information to ngati poaka for profit. He provoked actions and reported on them. He created many of the incidents he reported. He did some other filthy stuff as well.

      Pedophilia is a sickness which can be treated. You loathe them because of the damage their sickness causes. I see them as people who need to be kept away from kids, and as people who need treatment.

      As for the shock jock thing – pffft. I spoke my mind. I’ve lived through attempts to fuck my life up completely because of fleas like Gilchrist. They are the sort of garbage that make police states possible. I can’t be bothered being polite about them.

      • The Al1en 6.1.1
        1 January 2015 at 8:22 am

        Instinctive love for authority 😆 Not even close murray.
        Sure it’s not just you being a right on anti pig pedlar letting your moral compass skew for the sake of appearing staunch for the cause, comrade?

        Definitely shock jock tactics and your comments on paedos are worryingly naive.

        Anyway, you have a good new year now.

        • Murray Rawshark 6.1.1.1
          1 January 2015 at 6:54 pm

          Quite sure. I’m happy with my views and actions and I don’t need to get abusive to talk about them.

  7. marty mars 7
    1 January 2015 at 5:57 pm

    Thanks for putting these up Micky. Might be interesting to come from different angles on the lists, like the ones where the most banning occurred or most captioned caption post – anyway may be not such a good idea – just some random thoughts. All the best for the year, keep up the great work. Kia kaha.

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