By Adam Pagnucco.
Below are the top ten stories on Montgomery Perspective in February 2024, ranked by page views.
2. New Proposed Interim Superintendent Has Baggage
3. Mink Refuses to Support Bigger Penalties for Street Racing
5. Are You Ready for Bethany Mandel?
6. Beidleman to Court: Unmask Jane Doe or Dismiss Her Case
7. Jackson Lewis Report Shines Light on McKnight
9. Luedtke and Glass Want to Put MCPS Witnesses Under Oath
10. Delegate Active on Tenant Issues Sued Three Times for Failure to Pay Rent
This was by far the most-read month in the history of Montgomery Perspective and it’s not close.
There is more. In terms of page views, last month was just short of Seventh State’s performance in June 2018 – a gubernatorial primary election month. Gubernatorial primaries are key for any Maryland political site because they often decide elections for state and county offices. One would expect traffic to spike in those months. We are more than two years away from the next gubernatorial primary. Site traffic should be low. Instead, it exploded.
Why?
February 2024 was the month when MoCo went nuts. WAMU, one of the region’s most critical news outlets, imploded. MoCo360, which is critical to our county, was sold. MCPS’s superintendent was removed in the middle of a contract term for the first time since 1979. Her interim successor turned out to have a lot of baggage. A nationally known social conservative entered our school board race. Thousands of people read about a legal battle between a blogger and an online comedian. And one of our elected officials openly questioned whether penalties have any effect on crime.
Last month’s top two stories about WAMU and the interim superintendent are the most-read stories in the history of this site. I have published more than 4,700 posts since 2006 and those two are probably in my all-time top ten.
When I look at the above list, I feel sorry for people like Gabe Albornoz, Marilyn Balcombe and Kate Stewart. Why would I say that? They are elected officials who behave with dignity and treat others with respect. They never say crazy things. You can agree with how they vote or not, but no one can dispute that they act professionally in public.
But when it comes down to it, people want to read about Kristin Mink, Bethany Mandel, predatory principals, warring bloggers and media disasters. A five-part series on school funding? Not so much. This is the same sort of reality faced by local TV news shows that focus heavily on crime. That’s what folks want to watch and the TV people give it to them.
This site will give it all to you, both the wacky and the wonky. If you want the latest lunatic explosion, yeah, you’ll get it, but you may have to go through a few numbers-heavy budget posts first.
On to March!