BY MIKE CETERA
We're asking readers to pick the most important local news stories of the year. As we mentioned in a story in Friday's newspaper, there's a variety of ways to submit your entries. We'd also like to allow you to submit entries via the blog.
We'll include any votes posted here in our recap on Dec. 30. Please feel free to explain why you're voting for a particular story.
I can't believe the Fox Valley Park District canceled the canoe race this year. What a shame! I think it was short-sighted of them. It seems to be the way the Park District is operating these days. I am so glad the Y and Aurora Township teamed up and created a very successful canoe race. I had the opportunity to work the event and found everyone to really enjoy themselves. It was a lot of fun. It was a very positive event and the kids in our community are the ones who benefited!
I read the Beacon's story on the readers top stories but I am very confused. If the Beacon didn't use the online poll, then what was the basis for the readers results and what were those results? Why wasn't the poll used at all? I would appreciate if someone could explain this.
Cetera responds:
The reader results published in the newspaper were based on the ballot published in the newspaper only. Readers were asked to submit by mail or e-mail their picks. Those submissions were reflected in the results published in the newspaper.
While neither the results from mailed or e-mailed submissions or the online poll is scientific, editors have reason to believe -- due to the high volume of votes for several issues -- that the online poll was manipulated and does not reflect the spirit of voting -- that is one person, one vote.
Why should anyone believe the results shown by the Beacon aren't manipulated any more or less than anything else?
Why would people email results if you have an online poll? I don't remember saying that people should email the results? Why did you have an online poll if you weren't going to use it?
What were the results? How many people sent a mail ballot and how many people sent an email ballot? How many votes did each story get?
I voted on the online poll so how does my vote count?
CETERA RESPONDS:
Ron,
The link in the original post will take you to story inviting readers to vote. The story ran in the paper on Dec. 21 and Dec. 23 and online Dec. 21.
The story offers people several ways to vote and makes what appears to be a distinction -- right or wrong -- between the poll in the paper and the poll online.
I don't know specifically how many people sent in e-mails or mailed in their votes as I didn't work on the top stories project. But I also don't know how many people voted online because there's no way to prove that one person didn't try to rig the voting by placing multiple votes for one issue. I don't, for example, believe that thousands of people voted for Bob Thomas winning a libel lawsuit as a top story. And yet, that story received thousands of votes. The fix was in, in my opinion. Unfortunately, there's no way to prove or disprove that theory.
I think the mailed and e-mailed ballots are more reliable because the newspaper is better able to guard against stuffing the ballot box. Just my opinion.
Indeed, your vote counted in the online poll, but not in the results published in the newspaper. For that, I appologize. If you'd like to discuss this further, please e-mail me: mcetera@scn1.com.
It seems odd the story would say how many there were for the online poll that wasn't used, but no results for what was claimed to be used.
Why don't you publish the full results here?
Anyone could "stuff" the ballot box in any method, but are you saying the Beacon-News ran an online poll knowing that it could be stuffed? I have taken online polls that only allow one vote so how is it those work and the Beacon-News online poll doesn't?
And, why would the Beacon-News use an online poll in the first place if there wasn't an intention to use the results?
Who at the Beacon-News decides that all of those 19,000 votes online shouldn't count? What if 1,900 were correct? How can the Beacon claim the stories that chosen by email or mail reflect readers when you know they are missing the results? It would be like saying during the February 5th election that count only the results from the City of Chicago if they came in one way and forget the rest. You either count all the results or you can't consider it a full vote.
Unless there are full results shown, I think the Beacon-News should retract their story.
I would also like to see the full results that were used. I cannot believe the #6 top story of the year was "Fox Valley high school teams win state titles" when that wasn't even one of the poll questions online. There were two separate entries, one for Rosary and one for Plano. That means someone decided to combine those which is not what the poll showed and if someone could edit that, then I agree the entire story lacks credibility.
CETERA RESPONDS:
Janet,
Yet another reason to keep the results separate. The ballot in the newspaper put all three state championships into one candidate for top story: "Plano High, Geneva High and Rosary win at state."
There was no combination of vote totals for the newspaper ballot.