These are the top maybe-not headlines from the past 72-hours presented by The Conversation Project from raw engagement data from our social media to the headlines posted over the weekend.
The 8 topics that our followers ranked as the most conversational are:
GWEN STEFANI TO REPLACE ADAM LEVINE IN UPCOMING SEASON OF ‘THE VOICE’
The Maroon 5 frontman is departing after 16 seasons and being an original coach since the show’s 2011 debut. Blake Shelton remains as the last of the original judge. Levine will be replaced by Shelton’s girlfriend Gwen Stefani, who previously served as a coach for the singing competition in Seasons 7, 9 and 12.
(Source: USAToday.com)
DALLAS MORNING NEWS SPORTS REPORTER GERRY FRALEY DIES AT 64
Fraley died early Saturday morning after a two-year bout with cancer. He also covered football, basketball, NASCAR and various assignments over a career spanning four decades. Garry Leavell, Fraley’s boss, said his versatility “is what separated him from his peers.” A consensus of nearly two dozen national colleagues describes him as a loyal friend, bitter enemy, loving father, and a “ballwriter’s ballwriter.”
(Source: sportsday.dallasnews.com)
SEVERAL INJURED IN CENTRAL LYON EXPLOSION, PACKAGE BOMB SUSPECTED
French President Emmanuel Macron called a package blast on a pedestrian street in central Lyon on Friday an “attack” after the device wounded more than a dozen people just two days ahead of France’s hotly contested European Parliament elections. Police were hunting a man believed to be in his early 30s on a mountain bicycle who witnesses and security cameras saw in the area immediately before the explosion.
(Source: france24.com)
WENDY’S EMPLOYEE FIRED AFTER TAKING A BUBBLE BATH IN RESTAURANT SINK
Posted on Snapchat and shared Tuesday on Facebook, a Wendy’s worker in Milton, Florida, wearing only a pair of shorts, lowered himself into an industrial sink, filled with soap. A company spokesperson said, “Our franchisee is taking this incident seriously and it is obviously totally unacceptable. This was a prank by a person who no longer works at this restaurant, and who clearly did not use good judgment.” A company employee wrote on Facebook, “He was off the clock and the ‘repulsive’ incident was two minutes long. People have done it before and the only reason it’s a problem now is because old people have access to Facebook.”
(Source: yahoo.com/lifestyle)
AUBURN TIGERS RADIO VOICE ROD BRAMBLETT, WIFE, DIE AFTER CAR ACCIDENT
The radio voice of the Auburn Tigers and his wife, Paula, died late Saturday night from injuries suffered in a serious car accident at around 6 p.m. CT. The two-vehicle accident involving one SUV carrying a 53-year-old male and 52-year-old female and another carrying a 16-year-old juvenile occurred near the intersection of Shug Jordan Parkway and West Samford Avenue in Auburn. The juvenile “was taken by ambulance to East Alabama Medical Center emergency room with non-life-threatening injuries.” His name has not yet been released. Alcohol was not a factor in the accident.
(Source: usatoday.com)
CENSORING GAY MARRIAGE ON TV COULD BE AN OMINOUS SIGN OF THINGS TO COME
Earlier this month, Alabama Public Television decided not to run an episode featuring a same-sex marriage on the PBS animated television series, Arthur. Executives at Alabama Public Television defended their decision not to run the Arthur episode, explaining that parents counted on the network to provide programming they could trust their children to watch without their supervision. Despite the seemingly favorable outlook for LGBTQ Americans in recent years, there’s a sizable chunk of the country that has declared they won’t capitulate to the cultural progress. The resistance to gay rights remains strongest among conservative Christians, and the churches they attend continue to oppose gay rights, some with growing stridency.
(Source: theweek.com)
DAYTON, OHIO KKK RALLY OUTNUMBERED BY HUNDREDS OF COUNTER-PROTESTERS
Hundreds of counter-protesters demonstrated against an estimated nine attendees of a planned rally by a Ku Klu Klan-affiliated group in Dayton, Ohio on Saturday. The nine members of the Honorable Sacred Knights of Indiana did little talking and when they did try to communicate, counter-protesters made sure they couldn’t be heard. All but one of the members wore masks. Dayton Police Chief Richard Biehl said he was “very pleased” with security, noting that no one was arrested or injured. Mayor Nan Whaley praised those who attended the counter-event “to celebrate what Dayton is all about.”
(Source: cbsnews.com)
APPLE IS SELLING YOUR iTUNES LISTENING DATA DESPITE ITS PRIVACY CLAIMS, A LAWSUIT ALLEGES
Three iTunes customers from Rhode Island and Michigan sued Friday in federal court in San Francisco seeking to represent hundreds of thousands of residents of their home states who allegedly had their personal listening information disclosed without their consent. The disclosure of iTunes customers’ personal data isn’t only unlawful but can also be dangerous because it allows for targeting vulnerable members of society, according to the complaint. They seek $250 for each Rhode Island iTunes customer whose information was disclosed and $5,000 for each one in Michigan, under the states’ respective privacy laws.
(Source: time.com)
Eight Things To Talk About uses the raw engagement data from the social media engagement from The Conversation Project to generate the top ranking headlines over the course of a weekend.
A full weeks’ data (from Friday to Friday) is compiled, weighed, and sorted to produce the content for the Wrap-Up Show with J Cleveland Payne, published every Saturday as a podcast available at ThisIsTheConversation.com or wherever your favorite podcasts are found.
To ‘participate’ in the rankings of the headlines for this newsletter or the podcast, follow the Conversation Project on social media and engage with the posts to give them more ‘votes.’ The Conversation Project can be found on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
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