Walls of Mass Destruction (continued)

This is what a wall around content does.

Here are the Top 10 stores read on the NewYorkTimes.com in September:

1. Officials
Struggle to Reverse a Growing Sense of Anarchy

By RALPH
BLUMENTHAL, JOSEPH B. TREASTER and MARIA NEWMAN, Published: September 1,
2005
Bodies floated in stagnant floodwaters, and food and water supplies
dwindled for thousands of trapped, desperate residents who had not yet managed
to find a way out.

2. Breakdowns
Marked Path From Hurricane to Anarchy

By ERIC LIPTON,
CHRISTOPHER DREW, SCOTT SHANE and DAVID ROHDE, Published: September 11,
2005
An initial examination of Katrina’s aftermath shows the extent to which
the federal government failed to act as a unified force.

3. Maureen
Dowd: United States of Shame

Published: September 3, 2005
W.
drove his budget-cutting Chevy to the levee, and it wasn’t dry. Bye, bye,
American lives.

4. Frank
Rich: Message: I Care About the Black Folks

Published: September
18, 2005
The worst storm in our history proved perfect for exposing this
president because in one big blast it illuminated all his failings.

5. Macabre
Reminder: The Corpse on Union Street

By DAN BARRY, Published:
September 8, 2005
It is remarkable that on a downtown street in a major U.S.
city, a corpse can decompose for days, like carrion, and that is acceptable.

6. Frank
Rich: Falluja Floods the Superdome

Published: September 4,
2005
The failures of 9/11 come home to roost.

7. Local
Officials Criticize Federal Government Over Response

By JOSEPH
B. TREASTER and DEBORAH SONTAG, Published: September 2, 20055
Despair,
privation and violent lawlessness grew so extreme in New Orleans that the mayor
issued a "desperate S.O.S."

8. As
White House Anxiety Grows, Bush Tries to Quell Political
Crisis

By ELISABETH BUMILLER and ADAM NAGOURNEY, Published:
September 4, 2005
The White House’s response to the crisis, which has been
widely seen as slow and ineffectual, could undermine President Bush’s
second-term agenda.

9. Thomas
L. Friedman: Osama and Katrina

Published: September 7,
2005
If President Bush goes back to his politics as usual, Katrina will have
destroyed a city and a presidency.

10. Troops
Bring Food, Water and Promise of Order to New Orleans

By
FELICITY BARRINGER and MARIA NEWMAN, Published: September 2, 2005
Four days
after Katrina left most of New Orleans under water, National Guard trucks
arrived to begin helping thousands of people.

And here are the Top 10 Stories in October (when the wall went up around editorial content):

1. Magazine:
What’s a Modern Girl to Do?

By MAUREEN DOWD, Published: October
30, 2005
Burning your bra or padding it. Demanding "Ms." or flaunting "Mrs."
Splitting the check or letting him pay. Playing it straight or playing hard to
get.

2. Cheney
Told Aide of C.I.A. Officer, Lawyers Report

By DAVID JOHNSTON,
RICHARD W. STEVENSON and DOUGLAS JEHL, Published: October 25, 2005
Notes of a
previously undisclosed conversation between the vice president and his chief of
staff appear to differ from I. Lewis Libby’s federal grand jury testimony.

3. The
Miller Case: A Notebook, a Cause, a Jail Cell and a Deal

By DON
VAN NATTA Jr., ADAM LIPTAK and CLIFFORD J. LEVY, Published: October 16, 2005

An examination of Judith Miller’s decision not to testify, and then to do
so, offers fresh information about her role and how The Times turned her case
into a cause.

4. As
Polar Ice Turns to Water, Dreams of Treasure Abound

By CLIFFORD
KRAUSS, STEVEN LEE MYERS, ANDREW C. REVKIN and SIMON ROMERO, Published: October
10, 2005
With the thawing of the polar ice caps, the Arctic is undergoing a
great rush for virgin territory and natural resources.

5. In
Midcareer, a Turn to Faith to Fill a Void

By EDWARD WYATT and
SIMON ROMERO, Published: October 5, 2005
Harriet E. Miers’s decision to
become an evangelical Christian coincided with a move toward the Republican
Party.

6. New
Storm Measures as Most Intense Ever for Atlantic Basin

By
TIMOTHY WILLIAMS, Published: October 19, 2005
Hurricane Wilma, which appeared
headed toward Cancun, intensified into a category 5 storm with winds of 175
miles per hour.

7. Cover-Up
Issue Is Seen as Focus in Leak Inquiry

By DAVID JOHNSTON,
Published: October 21, 2005
Karl Rove and I. Lewis Libby Jr. have been
advised that they may be in serious legal jeopardy, lawyers tied to the case
said.

8. No
Final Report Seen in Inquiry on C.I.A. Leak

By DAVID JOHNSTON
and RICHARD W. STEVENSON, Published: October 19, 2005
If the special counsel
decides not to issue a final report, that heightens the expectation that he
intends to bring indictments.

9. Libby
Resigns His Post; Rove’s Fate Remains Unresolved

By DAVID STOUT,
Published: October 28, 2005
I. Lewis Libby Jr. resigned after being charged
with obstruction, two counts of perjury and two of making false statements. Karl
Rove was not indicted today.

10. Bush
Picks Appeals Court Judge to Succeed O’Connor on Court

By
ELISABETH BUMILLER and CARL HULSE, Published: October 31, 2005
The
president’s nomination of Samuel A. Alito Jr. appeared to set up the
confirmation battle that both sides have wanted for years.

So, in September four of the top 10 stories were editorials.

In October, none of them were, although Maureen Dowd did get some great run with her magazine piece.

I have to believe that the excellent journalists who write editorials at the New York Times; Maureen Dowd, Frank Rich, Paul Krugman, Thomas Friedman, David Brooks, Nicholas Kristof, Bob Herbert, and John Tierney are all pretty bummed out that their online audience has gone down the tubes.

I wonder how long it will be before they get really pissed off about this.

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