We’re looking back at the most-read LiveWire Calgary original content stories in 2019 – and we’ve got some great ones.
Original content is something we take seriously because otherwise, we’re just churning out the same Calgary stories as the other guys. If we did that, why would you choose us? Sure, we have that content, too, but just to make sure that you’ve got a well-rounded daily news diet. It’s not our focus.
It was really easy to find the most read LiveWire Calgary original stories this year, because they were all at the top. What does that tell us – You crave original content.
We’re going to bring you even more in 2020.
As a primer, here are our most-read stories of 2019, from 10 moving down to number one. Maybe there’s a story you didn’t catch that you really find interesting. Thanks for reading this year!
10. Enoch Sales House: How the Calgary heritage home fell through the cracks (3,154 views)
This was one of our longest reads of the year and the one that took the most work. It was a labour of love over 9 months for our editor, Darren Krause and it involved multiple sources, research, library visits and hours of writing, editing and fine tuning.
It’s the story of what led to the Enoch Sales House’s demise in 2019. Fire tore severely damaged the home and it had to be demolished.
9. Who should pay? Alberta says Calgary Fire Department medical response is voluntary (3,411 views)
During Calgary budget adjustment talks, Calgary Fire Chief Steve Dongworth said they’d approached the province about paying for more of the medical calls CFD firefighters were attended. The province said what the CFD doing was voluntary. Meanwhile, the CFD is struggling with their budget.
8. Calgary coffee shop hit by third break-in this year (3,837 views)
Instead of just writing about the rise in Calgary break ins in 2019, we found someone that had been hit three times in the past year and wrote about the impact it was having on their business. To help, we scheduled a Neighbourhood Newsroom in the area to try to bring a few more patrons their way.
7. Alberta Election – Calgary Ridings (5,123 views)
Out of the top 10, this is the only one that was gathered from basic information that we collected and where we acted as a traffic signal to send readers to the right places. What made us really happy about the number of readers is it shows that people were seeking out information during the provincial election. That’s always a good thing.
6. Grow Calgary future uncertain after Alberta backs away from relocation deal (5,218 views)
After uprooting their urban farm from the NW Calgary location, Paul Hughes and Grow Calgary have been running into roadblock after roadblock getting their new SE location up and running. More than a year on, that location is yet to move forward thanks to the provincial government.
5. Hundreds hit Calgary emergency rooms with escooter injuries (6,363 views)
This one is a real flashpoint with some because there’s the inevitable comparison of the data to cars, collisions and hospitalizations with that mode of transportation. Still, you can’t ignore the deluge of people that needed medical attention after the launch of escooters in Calgary this year.
4. Calgary Fire Department celebrates first-ever all female crew (7,060 views)
The first full truck of women was fielded in 2019, and the Calgary Fire Department celebrated that success. With the help of the CFD, we were able to have the firefighters tell us about what that feat meant to them.
3. Leaving a validated Calgary Transit ticket illegal, but… (7,290 views)
This story created some conversation because you’d think it’s just a pay-it-forward situation. Although Calgary Transit said that’s typically the way they see it, an eagle-eyed, elephant-memoried reader pointed back to a Metro Calgary story from several years back that showed Calgary Transit had ticketed a woman for doing exactly this.
2. ‘They’re basically hunting’: What it’s like to be a Lime Juicer in Calgary (8,183 views)
Again with the escooters, this one showed the lengths some go to make a few extra bucks charging up the Lime scooters in Calgary. This one really took off; so much that the CBC did the story a few days later. (We probably would have got more hits…)
1. Doorbell camera footage provides Calgary police with evidence that’s ‘tough to dispute’ (8,354 views)
This story took off over a weekend and created a lot of conversation about the crime vs. privacy aspect of the proliferation of doorbell cameras at the front of all our doors. While it can definitely be a deterrent, every time someone walks up to the door, they’re recorded and it’s often stored for a short period of time without their permission.
