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Web site breaks record

By Cheryl M. Shuffler | The News Herald

Published: May 15, 2009

MORGANTON - The News Herald's Web site, Morganton.com, received a record-smashing 1 million page views in April.
The highest number of daily hits — nearly 86,000 — came on April 20, the day the Burke County Board of Education voted to terminate Superintendent David Burleson's contract, ending his 27-year educational career in Burke County.
"Morganton.com grossed its highest month of page views on record: 1,021,286. The site's previous page view record was set in March at 618,511 page views," said Jess Norman, North Carolina community news and content leader for Media General, The News Herald's parent corporation.
At its one-day peak, the Web site attracted nearly 5,000 unique visitors.
"I like to explain page views and unique visitors with a metaphor," Norman said. "Imagine Morganton.com is the public library. Every person who walks in is a unique visitor and every book they pick up is a page view. Sometimes the people return at another time and are counted again as a unique visitor. Measuring audience depends on what you value more: the popularity of your books or how many people come through the door."
Norman, based in Statesville, said Burleson's ousting and the school board's subsequent actions created a firestorm of controversy seen in the hundreds of comments on the site. First there was the contract dispute, then the school board voted down the First Amendment and now there are fears about the school system's accreditation.
Norman said that Burleson and the school board "has become the topic on everyone's mind."
At the April 20 meeting, the school board voted on Burleson's contract without accepting any public comment.
Lamar Smitherman, publisher of The News Herald, said, "That story alone on our Web site generated more than 250 comments from concerned citizens. (Morganton.com) provided people with the opportunity for their voice to be heard. The Web is a wonderful tool to help get the public involved."
In the news business there are plenty of guaranteed front-page stories, Norman said, but this issue hit home for thousands in Burke County.
"The school board topic proves to us that if there is an important issue in the community, readers will turn to us to get the latest information," she said.
The News Herald and Morganton.com's goal is to be "Web first" in breaking news, Norman said. While it may take up to a day before the story can break in print, the news staff gets the information online and out to the public as soon as possible.
Norman said, "The News Herald staff is doing an amazing job staying on top of new developments. While great, in-depth information is available in the print edition, the Web site offers an instant interaction with the community. This can produce fresh story leads or give perspectives that enhance coverage."
She added, "We use the continuous news desk to develop a relationship with our readers so they will come to us first when they want to know something."
And community interaction is invaluable to local news coverage.
"Morganton.com and The News Herald value readers' input, tips, comments and opinions," Norman said. "More interaction means better coverage. April's audience records go a long way in validating our civic duty to the community."
On the print side for the month, newspaper sales felt the cuts in people's discretionary spending and the trend toward more Web readership, according to Managing Editor Steve Welker. However, readers still bought about 1,000 single copies on each weekday and 2,000 on Sundays in addition to the thousands that go to subscribers.