You read all about it in 2015.
The brawl at the burger joint. The stabbing at the art fair. The secret tapes that shocked the luxury real-estate world.
You liked the quick hit. And you liked the long read.
“Beyond Punishment,” an investigative series a year in the making, focused on abuse at the largest women’s prison in Florida and the nation. More than a million users have visited the series overview — featuring text, photos and videos — since it went online Dec. 13.
That interactive introduction to the deeply reported series is the most-read content on MiamiHerald.com in 2015.
The runner-up (we can handle this, Steve Harvey) is the saga of a young couple caught having sex on a Florida beach. Their private act played out in a public space attracted hundreds of thousands of readers to the story about their day in court. The 40-year-old man and 20-year-old woman were found guilty by a Bradenton jury of lewd and lascivious behavior.
Law and disorder certainly transfixed readers: the shooting of an NFL player in Miami Gardens, the fight caught on video at a South Beach Five Guys, the stabbing at Art Basel in Miami Beach, the maintenance man who saved the life of a rookie Miami cop.
But you’re not all about blood and guts. Issue-oriented stories also made the list: climate change and David Beckham’s quest to find a soccer stadium in South Florida.
And then there is what locals like. The most popular stories among South Florida readers included the UM basketball team heading to the NIT, the largest mall in the U.S. planned for Northwest Miami-Dade and the Marlins’ Giancarlo Stanton inking a $325 million contract.
Also capturing attention of readers and reporters were transformative world events, including the Paris climate accord and the collapse of oil prices.
Now, envelope, please: Here is a look at the Top 10 most-read stories of 2015:
1. Beyond Punishment | A Miami Herald investigation
The Miami Herald investigated Lowell Correctional Institution with a series of stories on bartered sex, corruption, cover-ups, suspicious deaths, rats and insects, and inadequate healthcare.
2. Couple found guilty of having sex on Florida beach
Jurors saw a video of a man moving on top of a woman in a sexual manner during the day on Bradenton Beach. Witnesses testified a 3-year-old girl saw them.
3. Report: St Louis Rams player shot in Miami Gardens
Former Miramar High standout Stedman Bailey, back in South Florida while serving an NFL drug suspension, was shot in a drive-by in front of a Miami Gardens home while he was in a car with other people.
4. Video: Brawl amid the burgers at South Beach Five Guys
Cameras are everywhere these days, and it didn’t take long for witnesses to press record as a brawl broke out at a Miami Beach burger place. The video shows napkins and fists flying in a fight between a customer and Five Guys employees as onlookers cheer while whipping out their cellphones to capture it all.
5. Secret tapes, blackmail threat: Luxe real-estate rivalry turns nasty in Miami
High-profile agents known as The Jills were the target of an extortion scheme, police said, in which a fellow Realtor accused the pair of manipulating data.
6. Fight leads to woman stabbed at Art Basel Miami Beach
A fight at the main event at the Miami Beach Convention Center ended with one woman stabbing another with an X-Acto knife, according to police, leading some to believe that the bloody violence was performance art.
7. Beckham announces Overtown site for soccer stadium
Soccer star David Beckham, who faced several roadblocks with plans for a soccer stadium in downtown Miami and next to Marlins Park, announced plans to build on a nine-acre site in Overtown for his new Major League Soccer team.
8. In Florida, officials ban term ‘climate change’
State environmental officials were ordered not to use the terms “climate change” or “global warming” in any government communications, emails, or reports.
9. Ex-NFL player Rae Carruth hired hit man to be sure this baby wasn't born, but now that baby is 16
He was born 10 weeks early after his mother was shot four times. Raised by his grandmother, Chancellor Lee Adams has kept a positive attitude despite his cerebral palsy.
10. Man who saved Miami officer: 'How could I not?'
A maintenance man told the story of how he saved the life of a rookie Miami police officer by pulling him to safety in his minivan as the cop was trying to take cover from a shooter with a high-powered assault rifle.
So, what will you be reading in 2016? We’ll find out next year.
Comments