The Indy by the Numbers: Most-read Articles in 2023

Below you will find listings of our most read articles in 2023 by category.

Since its inception on February 25, 2019, the Indy has published 4943 articles by 364 unique contributors producing 6,575 reader comments. All of this supports our aspiration to be a project of, by, and for the Amherst community.

The most-read article in 2023, was my story “Assistant Superintendent Doreen Cunningham Placed On Administrative Leave” which received 7,737 page views, still far short of last year’s, and our all-time most-read story, Don’t Throw Away This Letter! by Jeff Lee which was viewed 9,175 times.

Indy readership averaged over 49,000 page views per month in 2023 (excluding June and July when our analytics software was down), an increase of over 23,000 average page views per month from 2022. We recorded a low of 31,574 page views in January of 2023 and a high of 68,847 page views in May. We averaged just under 22,000 unique sessions per month which suggests that our readers are reading an average of 2+ articles, each time they visit the Indy.

Look here to check out Indy by the numbers for 2022 and 2021.

TOP SIXTEEN NEWS STORIES IN 2023
1. Assistant Superintendent Doreen Cunningham Placed On Administrative Leave by Art Keene
2. Massachusetts Bans Purchase of Single Use Plastic Bottles by Art Keene
3. ‘It’s Life Or Death’: Failure to Protect Trans Kids at ARMS a Systemic Problem by The Graphic Staff
4. Regional School Committee Receives Heart-wrenching Testimony About Discrimination at Middle School by Art Keene
5. Amherst Voters Green Light Borrowing For New Elementary School by Art Keene
6. Breaking The Silence: Staff Members Come Forward With Claims Of Negligence, Misuse Of Power By School District Leadership by The Graphic Staff
7. School Superintendent Responds To Withdrawal Of Sole Finalist For Middle School Principal by Art Keene
8. Library Leaders Disagree On Aiding Schools, Viability Of Building Project by Jeff Lee
9. New UMass Poll: More Than Half Of Massachusetts Republicans Have Contemplated Leaving State In Past Year  by Amherst Indy
10. High Vacancy Rate at Housing Authority Units While Amherst Residents Search for Apartments. by Maura Keene
11. Library Tea Party Event Draws Fire by Jeff Lee
12. Griesemer Failed To Share Information On Proposed State PFAS Ban With Town Council by Art Keene
13. Social Justice Committee Voices Dismay At The State of CRESS by Maura Keene
14.Plenty of Misgivings, But No Votes Against Additional Jones Library Borrowing by Maura Keene
15. Unrecognized Project Costs Trouble Library Trustee. Amherst College Gift Snubs Taxpayers by Jeff Lee
16. Teachers Raise Alarm Over Middle School Principal Search by Toni Cunningham

TOP SIXTEEN OPINION PIECES IN 2023
1. Opinion: Is Amherst Redeemable?  by John Varner
2. Opinion: Dispatch from an Amherst Neighborhood under Siege by Alex Kent
3. Letter: New UMass Pavillion A Flawed Undertaking by Robin Jaffin
4. Letter: A Call To Action. Demand Accountability In Amherst Public Schools by Jena Schwartz
5. Opinion: What It Means When Amherst Teachers Work To Rule by Sara Barber-Just
6. Letter: Peter Demling Owes The Public An Apology by Laura Hunter
7. Opinion: When We Talk About Austerity In Amherst, The Jones Library Expansion Project Is The Elephant The Room by Art Keene
8. Letter: Town Discriminates Against Black Owned Businesses by Vira Cage
9. Opinion: Amherst/Pelham Educators And Staff Are Valued by Ben Herrington
10. Letter: Regional School Committee – Slow Down, Listen, And Restore Trust In Amherst Schools by Art Keene
11.Opinion: Leverett Is Not Florida by John Varner
12.Letter: Retired Teacher Questions The Integrity Of Hiring Processes In Amherst Public Schools by Martha Toro
13.Opinion: A Vision for Housing in Amherst  by Jennifer Taub
14. Letter: It’s Decision Time for the Jones Library Building Project by Jeff Lee
15. Letter: Saulsberry Withdraws From Consideration for School Committee Vacancy by Gaylord Saulsberry
16 Opinion: Pediatricians Warn That Synthetic Turf Is Especially Dangerous For Children And Teens by Maura Keene and Art Keene

TOP SIXTEEN FEATURES IN 2023
1. ) A Better World Is Possible: Finland Ends Homelessness And Provides Shelter For All In Need by Kathrin Glosel
2. Indy Rewind: Got Invasive Jumping Worms In Your Garden? UMass Extension Has Solutions by Amherst Indy
3. Becoming Human: In Search of  Post-Capitalist Belonging at the University  by The Mutual Aid Project
4. A Better World Is Possible: Houston Helps 25,000 People Exit Homelessness by Ingo Geiger
5. How A Strip Mall In Hadley Became The Center Of The Modern Day Labor Movement by Diti Kohli
6. Almanac: Black Squirrels by Stephen Braun
7. Photo of the Week: Widening of Rail Trail Nearly Complete by Rob Kusner
8. Amherst History-Month-by-Month: Modern And Contemporary Homes in Amherst by Hetty Startup
9. Photo of the Week: Moose on the Loose by Peggy Matthews-Nilsen and Andrei Izurov
10. Two Amherst Architects And Their Impact Around Town by Hetty Startup
11. Culture Club: The Problem with Zappa by William Kaizen
12. Amherst History Month By Month: Brutalist Buildings in Amherst  by Hetty Startup
13. Verbatim: Excerpts from the Public Forum on Authorizing Deeper Jones Library Debt by Kitty Axelson-Berry
14. Photo of the Week: Strolling in Leverett and Shutesbury by Richard Sclove
15. From Other Sources: News For And About Amherst.  This Week: Local News Roundup, The Assault on DEI on Campus,  Gaza, and Police Reform by Art Keene
16. A Few Questions For…Eric Fredericksen, USA Waste & Recycling by Kitty Axelson-Berry

TOP TEN ISSUES & ANALYSES
1. Cash-strapped Library Project To Get New Cost Estimate As Bills Keep On Coming by Jeff Lee
2. Amherst Forward’s Influence Extends To Election Results, Government Policy by Jeff Lee
3. What Is Amherst’s Top Spending Priority? The Answer May Surprise You by Jeff Lee
4. The Jones Library Renovation Will Cost a Lot More Than You Think.  Amherst Taxpayers Will Likely Get Stuck with the Tab. by Art Keene & Maura Keene
5. How Do the Votes of Town Council Leadership Align with Their Campaign Promises? by Amherst Sunrise Movement
6. Jones Library Project Backpedals On Sustainability Commitment by Jeff Lee
7. Amended Agreement Leaves Town on the Hook by Toni Cunningham.
8 Many People in Amherst Would Be Interested in Living Downtown Given the Right Conditions by Ira Bryck
9. Interest Payments – The Library Project Cost Trustees Don’t Talk About by Jeff Lee
10. District’s Denial of Fiscal Realities Could Put ARHS Field Improvements out of Reach by Maria Kopicki