Network News: July 23-29

In the Spotlight:

Terrence Henry of StateImpact Texaswins this week’s Rock Star Reporter award with the top three most viewed stories of the week network-wide. All three stories shined a light on potential abuses of power, were well-reported and written and were picked up far and wide.

Terrence Henry, StateImpact Texas

First and foremost was his story on the reversal of a coal plant permit by a federal judge in Texas. The story succinctly covered the issues at hand while also bringing into focus an alleged culture of complacency at the Texas Department of Environmental Quality. As one of the first outlets to report on the ruling, Henry’s story was shared widely on Facebook and even made its way to the coveted number one spot on the story’s Google News feed.

Henry’s other series this week, on a UT professor’s failure to disclose his ties with the natural gas industry–while overseeing a study on the effects of hydraulic fracturing–was picked up or mentioned by the New York Times’ Dot Earth blog, Esquire’s The Politics Blog and the Huffington Post (not to mention npr.org). Henry says that his proximity to the sources allowed him to get the story immediately after reports of the professor’s payments began emerging–and ultimately made his coverage distinct from the pack.

But Henry wasn’t the only reporter making waves this week. Below are some of the reader’s other favorites.

Last Week’s Reader Faves

Most visited stories last week, in raw numbers:

1. Texas: Why the Las Brisas Coal Plant Air Permit Was Reversed
2. Texas: Texas Fracking Company Paid Texas Professor Behind Water Contamination Study
3. Texas: Texas Professor On the Defensive Over Fracking Money
4. Indiana: Why You Don’t Need To Live In Indy To Care About The Project School’s Fate
5. Oklahoma: Rural Oklahoma Town Faces Uncertainty As California Inmates Head Home

Most visited content on each site, in order of popularity:

What does that mean? Well, we took the top post from each of your states, according to traffic. We adjusted those figures to reflect each state’s population and then ordered the results.

1. Oklahoma: Rural Oklahoma Town Faces Uncertainty As California Inmates Head Home
2. Indiana: Why You Don’t Need To Live In Indy To Care About The Project School’s Fate
3. Texas: Why the Las Brisas Coal Plant Air Permit Was Reversed
4. New Hampshire: New ‘Granite Fund’ To Put Local Capital In The Hands Of N.H. Startups
5. Idaho: A Weak Economy Or Inadequately Trained Workers: What’s To Blame For Joblessness?
6. Pennsylvania: Commonwealth Court: Act 13′s Zoning Restrictions Are Unconstitutional
7. Ohio: State Rankings for Ohio Schools Released Today
8. Florida: How Turning A Gain Into A Loss Makes Merit Pay Work

Molly Messick, StateImpact Idaho

Heard on National Air

StateImpact Idaho‘s Molly Messick reported the story of two counties in Idaho and their unique economic fortunes in both the agriculture industry (where unemployment is low) and the timber industry (which is badly struggling). Her piece aired Monday on Morning Edition. Nice work, Molly!

Around the Network

Last week:

• Chris Swope and Jessica Pupovac had a great visit with StateImpact Indiana, replete with short and long-term editorial planning, data training and, of course, lovely after-hours merriment. Thanks, Indiana, for showing us such a great time!

This week:

• Chris Amico, our programmer extraordinaire, is leaving us today for Cambridge, where his wife, Laura, was recently awarded a Neiman Fellowship at Harvard. Laura plans to build an online guide for criminal justice coverage in the digital age. Chris, meanwhile, has a few very promising irons in the fire and we will be looking forward to seeing what he does next with his amazing talent and dedication to news innovation. We’ll miss him a lot and wish him all the best. If anyone would like to keep in touch with him, you can find him on Twitter at @eyeseast or you can contact Jessica for his email address.