Top 10: Assange and gay marriage

Was it Julian Assange who made the Walkley Awards the most popular story this week? Or are SBS audiences just super-interested in journalism? We like to think it's the latter.

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Most industries have their awards nights, but most people from outside the industry would find them utterly boring - even with free booze.

For example, doctors are unlikely to turn up to the Australian Engineering Excellence awards, or the Chartered Accounts awards, and the feeling's probably mutual on the engineers' and accountants' sides.

Which is why it's always a surprise that our viewers - presumably from a very wide range of non-media-related occupations - take so much interest in the Walkley Awards.

Sure, it's on TV, but so's a whole lot of stuff about the Kardashians. Doesn't mean you have to watch it - especially since there's NO booze that way anyway. But watch it you do, and you clicked it into top spot in our list of popular stories this week, and that pleases and flatters us over here in the business of journalism.

At first glance, one might think the popularity of THIS year's Walkley broadcast and related online stories may be owed to the fact that the top honour was handed to .

But the very next story on the list - hot on its heels - was a whole gallery of photos from the Walkley awards presentation night, which says to us that not only are you interested in seeing who wins what, but you also want to

In an industry where ego is abundant and arguably necessary, that kind of flattery will get you everywhere, dear readers.

In third spot, you were hunting for serious news, and you clicked on our interview with members of .

In fourth, this stirred debate about what one should and shouldn't say about people of different backgrounds and the way in which one can or can't say it. A warning about that one - if you click on the links to the videos, be prepared for some potentially offensive remarks and foul language.

Fifth spot went to the . He died of a massive heart attack as he rode his bike a few hours before he was to attend a function for 400 young indigenous rugby players whom he'd helped to achieve their dreams.

Then, with the news that readers flocked to our discussion board to have their say on It's worth a click to get a sense of where Aussies stand on that question, with over 700 responses so far.

There was a collective gulp from all those with an interest in the Middle East as reports emerged that four Katyusha rockets (they're the big, nasty kind) had been from the Israel Defence Forces and creating a worrying sense of deja vu from 2006.

And to finish, a timely warning for Christmas shoppers, with news that a US shopping centre (oh, all right - "mall") opening its doors for the traditional Black Friday sales found its staff

And with that, we wish you a relaxing weekend and may all of your non-denominational holiday season shopping excursions be safe and free of pepper-spray.


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4 min read
Published 2 December 2011 3:06pm
Updated 26 August 2013 9:20am
By Lisa Zilberpriver
Source: SBS


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