Come marvel at what you, the viewing public, thought was worth clicking on last month in this little section of the blogosphere. I also identify some posts I wish would have gotten more attention.

Here are the most popular, in descending order:

1. Dan Gillmor to start citizen journalism venture (posted Dec. 10)
 
2. 'Dark Alliance' author Gary Webb found dead (Dec. 13)

3. Hamilton Spectator reporter convicted but not punished (Dec. 1)

4. Elvis's death day (Aug. 16)

5. Reporter takes credit for soldier's tough question (Dec. 10)

6. Christmas specials that could have been (Dec. 4)

7. Cosgrove whacked by NP (Dec. 3)

8. First wikipedias, now wikinews (Dec. 10)

9. Hamilton Spectator reporter faces jail (Nov. 18)

10. More Stewart and Crossfire aftermath  (Oct. 22)

A couple of things to note:

1. The power of Google: If you just do a search on Elvis's death (no quote marks around the phrase), my posting comes up number two on Google! For Graceland porcelain monkey, I'm number three. :)

I've got that posting liberally salted with keywords.

Whatever the reason, Elvis's Death Day has consistently been in the top five of my most popular monthly posts since I made my first blog posting on Aug. 11. I daresay it's my viewers' favourite post of 2004.

2. Gillmor's blog, among others, linked back to me on the Gillmor story. That could account for a not-bad Google ranking: Number nine for dan gillmor citizen journalism.

3. A few posts which are high on the above list are immediately adjacent to highly popular posts. It would be interesting to see if the pageviews for them came from the next/previous links that Blogware software provides. 

Ones left in the cyber-remainder bin:

Actually, here are some from last month that I would have liked people to either read and/or comment on more (if at all). They are in no particular order:

Journalists, interactivity and blogs (Dec. 3)

Dead or Alive: The wild world of Takashi Miike! (Dec. 9)

On timidity and being a team player (Dec. 15)

Frank's dead (Dec. 17)

Do people hate journalists or (Boo! Hiss!) The Media? (Dec. 17)

I'm something of a Miike proselytizer, although I fully realize he's not to the taste of anyone who has taste. :)

The craft hasn't had a good discussion on where blogs fit into the picture of mainstream journalism. I tried to start it and failed (got a couple responses at Blog on blogs).

The "team player" stuff is important because I think Canadian journalism has suffered at times from careerist-induced cowardice when it comes to speaking out about ethical issues. Third World journalists undergo physical torture to tell the truth while some Canadian ones zip their lips to avoid missing a chance to be promoted to deputy to the assistant under-editor for nothing in particular.

The zipped lips on Frank was another puzzler. Everyone reads gossip, but no one apparently has an opinion on its role in journalism. See above. :)

The journalist-vs.-Media debate is one part of the ongoing discussion on the craft's credibility that I'd like to see aired out more fully. But it takes two to debate. :)