ANT KATZ

Here it comes again…

As has become a regular feature of SA Jewish Report Online (JR Online) – much to the delight of users – the website will again be publishing the most read stories or most followed issues over the past 12 months – as well as the most popular of all time.

The series will be published in daily instalments, starting Sunday, and it will continue to be published until mid-January. All stories will all be filed for easy access by users. Previous years’ versions can be found by searching on the site for “top-reads 2014” or “top-reads 2015”.

RIGHT: The generic banners that were used over the past two years – each has a story- or topic specific branding added once the stories are published 

What do you think the top reads of 2016 are?

Just as a teaser, JR Online’s unpacking of the Top-35 stories showed that 26 of them were on just five subjects:

• Eleven of the top 35 stories were on the BOBROFF FUGITIVE SAGA.
• Five were on the arrest, extradition and trial of RABBI ELIEZER BERLAND.
• Four of the 35 top stories were about men refusing their wives GETS.         
• Three were about women singing at Jewish communal events – the KOL ISHA MATTER
• A further three were, in order, the RICH LISTS from 2013, 2015 and 2014.

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Louis Botha

• Although none of the many stories made the Top-35, the most read single topic of 2016 was about the road that runs through the Johannesburg ‘Shtetl’ area – Louis Botha Avenue.

  What is happening with the new Freedom Corridor, why, and what to expect from what will soon be the ‘new norm’?

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  LEFT: The 2016 top stories and topics will be represented for the first time in a colour-coded specific branding:
  
  Purple for SA stories or topics

  Red for World news stories or topics
  

Blue for Israeli stories or topics

Watch out for daily posts from Sunday 1 January 2017.

The All-Time top reads and topics – representing over 30,000 stories that have been posted in just over three years since the website started publishing (life-of-site) will also be published, as will the statistics on the readership of the website: Who they are, Where they live, How many return, How often, How long does the average reader spend on the website and How many pages they access on an average visit?

As a taster, read this: Botched bris led to 2015’s most viral story. The most viral story of last year had 1,229 reads within 24 hours of its November 11 publication (and 2,199 in the week). It was also retold by international Jewish publications and the Sunday Times in South Africa. “Bris findings leave unanswered questions” was about the outcome of a commission of inquiry following a serious injury to a local baby at his brit milah in Sandton in June 2014.