Taking stock of 2014

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Reporting, analysis and commentary
by Jim Heaney, editor of Investigative Post

Investigative Post is wrapping up a busy – and productive – year.

Dan Telvock, Charlotte Keith and I produced some 90 original pieces of content in 2014, including investigations, follow-up stories, analyzes and blog posts. Many had impact, none more than Dan’s blockbuster story on the shameful condition of Scajaquada Creek and its stomach churning, heart-wrenching follow.

We continued to grow our audience during 2014, thanks to our partnerships with WGRZ, Artvoice and City & State. We’re still reviewing our analytics, but it looks like our stories reached a collective audience of 7 million readers and viewers. That’s up from 6 million in 2013 and 3 million in 2012. That makes us perhaps the only news outlet in town with a growing audience.

In a minute, I’m going to ask readers to vote on their favorite story of the year, but first, let’s recap the 10 most-viewed stories on our website:

1. Chippewa Street is pigsty city
2. Chippewa Street is a red blight district
3. SolarCity’s shaky foundation
4. Sabres score big subsidies for HarborCenter
5. Putting Pegula’s purchase of Bills in perspective
6. Scajaquada is a crippled creek
7. State suppressing Buffalo Billion documents
8. Scajaquada Creek is a toilet
9. More subsidies proposed for Wheatfield mall
10. Carl Paladini is a RINO

As you can see, pieces on the sorry state of Scajaquada Creek and economic development subsidies were popular with readers. But nothing topped a couple of quick hits we did on the trash along Chippewa Street that greeted visitors to Buffalo during the NCAA regional basketball tournament in March.

It’s your turn to tell us what you think the top stories of the year were. Below is a poll that reflects my list of our 10 best stories of 2014. Tell us which story you liked the best.

Here are your choices:

• Concrete crushing business produces Dust Bowl
• Sabres subsidies for HarborCenter
• State stonewalling on Buffalo Billion spending
• Scajaquada is a crippled creek
• Carl Paladino is a RINO
• Buffalo is ground zero for lead poisoning
• Subpar recycling in city, suburbs
• SolarCity’s shaky foundation
• Erie County’s lackluster Legislature
• State overpaid for Peace Bridge property

We’ll keep the poll below open through Sunday, Jan. 11. You can only vote once, so make it count.

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While you’re at it, please consider making a tax-deductible donation to Investigative Post to help us continue our work in 2015. You can make an online donation here.

Jim Heaney