These are the top headlines from the past week presented by The Conversation Project from raw engagement data from your interactions with the headlines posted to our social media feeds.
SUBSCRIBE TO THE NEWSLETTER | BUY ME A COFFEE
The 8 headlines that our followers ranked as the most conversational are:
RESCUERS RACE TO SAVE BOY STUCK DOWN A WELL FOR FOUR DAYS IN MOROCCO
A 5-year-old boy who became trapped in a well more than 100 feet deep since Tuesday has died, the royal palace in Morocco said Saturday. Crews had been racing to rescue the child. But as the efforts stretched into a fourth day, with unstable soil making the task of digging him out safely more difficult, rescuers retrieved the boy’s body late Saturday. Moroccan King Mohammed VI expressed his condolences to the boy’s parents in a statement released by the palace and carried by state media reported. According to the statement, the boy died before rescuers could save him.
SOURCE: cnn.com – POSTED: Saturday 2/5/2022 ENGAGEMENT: 10.38%
KAMILA VALIEVA: WHAT WE KNOW ABOUT WINTER OLYMPICS DOPING CONTROVERSY
More than three days after the conclusion of the team figure skating competition at the 2022 Winter Olympics, and nearly 48 hours after the originally-scheduled victory ceremony, the teams involved have still not received their medals – and it’s possible they won’t before the Games end. And none of the relevant sports organizations are ready to disclose why. USA TODAY Sports columnist Christine Brennan reported Wednesday that the medal ceremony was delayed because of a positive drug test within the Russian team – and that officials have been told the athlete involved is a minor. The only minor on the Russian team is 15-year-old Kamila Valieva, the gold-medal favorite in the women’s individual competition.
SOURCE: usatoday.com – POSTED: Thursday 2/10/2022 – ENGAGEMENT: 9.01%
VIRGINIA SHOOTING: POLICE RESPOND TO ACTIVE SHOOTER IN BLACKSBURG
Multiple people were shot late Friday night in Blacksburg, Virginia, a college town that was shattered by one of the worst shootings in U.S. history nearly 15 years ago. One person was killed and another four people were injured during a shooting at a hookah lounge, authorities said. The Blacksburg Police Department said officers responded to reports of shots fired at the Melody Hookah Lounge in downtown Blacksburg on Friday just before midnight. Police did not identify the deceased person. No additional information was made available, including details on potential suspects or a motive.
SOURCE: usatoday.com – POSTED: Saturday 2/5/2022 – ENGAGEMENT: 8.50%
NELLY ACCIDENTALLY POSTS VIDEO OF WOMAN PERFORMING FELLATIO ON HIM
On Tuesday, the rapper “accidentally” uploaded a video of himself receiving oral sex from an unidentified woman onto his Instagram Story for all 3.3 million followers to see. To make the already embarrassing situation even more absurd, he learned of his faux pas in the middle of an on-camera interview. The nearly minute-long clip showed a very generous brunette participant going at it with the Hot In Herre hitmaker’s purported penis, which – along with her face – was completely exposed. The explicit content was supposedly uploaded to Nelly’s account by mistake and deleted a short time after, but not before it was screen recorded and shared to Twitter. The jokes basically wrote themselves.
SOURCE: radaronline.com – POSTED: Wednesday 2/9/2022 – ENGAGEMENT: 5.76%
BRUSH FIRE THREATENS HOMES AND PROMPTS EVACUATION ORDERS IN LAGUNA BEACH, CALIFORNIA
Evacuation orders were lifted Thursday afternoon for residents in the Irvine Cove and Emerald Bay areas of Laguna Beach, California, hours after a dangerous brush fire threatened homes, city and fire officials said. The blaze, dubbed the Emerald Fire, covers 150 acres and is 10% contained, according to a tweet from the Orange County Fire Authority. An evacuation warning will remain in place while police and fire personnel patrol the area for hot spots; residents are advised to stay on heightened alert. Laguna Beach officials warned that residents may return to homes without power as Southern California Edison has not yet received the “all clear” to re-energize power lines. Approximately 375 firefighters have been tackling the flames in unseasonably high temperatures, with five helicopters assisting the effort.
SOURCE: cnn.com – POSTED: Thursday 2/10/2022 – ENGAGEMENT: 3.14%
JEREMY GIAMBI, FORMER MLB OUTFIELDER AND BROTHER OF JASON, DEAD AT 47
Jeremy Giambi, the brother of former Yankees star Jason Giambi and who played parts of six seasons in MLB, died Wednesday at his parents’ home in Southern California, police and his agent said. He was 47. Officers responding around 11:30 a.m. to reports of a medical emergency found Giambi dead at the residence in Claremont, east of Los Angeles. The Los Angeles County Coroner’s Office will determine the cause of death, police said. Giambi’s agent, Joel Wolfe, said the family requested “that we all respect their privacy during this difficult time.” The Giambi brothers were teammates on the Oakland Athletics for two seasons, from 2000-01. Jeremy Giambi also played for the Royals, Phillies and Red Sox. The outfielder hit 52 home runs with 209 RBIs in 510 career games.
SOURCE: nypost.com – POSTED: Wednesday 2/9/2022 – ENGAGEMENT: 2.59%
OMEGA ZETA PI SCSU: SORORITY SUSPENDED AFTER VIDEO SURFACES
Southern Connecticut State University (SCSU) suspended a sorority after footage surfaced of its members mocking the rituals of Zeta Phi Beta, one of the organizations that make up the Divine Nine, a group of historically Black fraternities and sororities. Footage of the incident circulated widely on social media. It shows multiple white members of Omega Zeta Pi laughing while mimicking the hand signs of Zeta Phi Beta. Kahlil Greene, a creator who is best known for his posts about America’s hidden history, called out the clip in a now-viral TikTok, explaining the significance of the Zeta Phi Beta rituals and condemning the students who made fun of them. “For anyone who doesn’t know, what those white women were mocking is called a stroll, which is a group performance routine created by members of the Divine Nine to represent their respective organization,” Greene explained. “They were also mocking signs and calls, which serve a similar purpose.”
SOURCE: intheknow.com – Saturday 2/5/2022 – ENGAGEMENT: 2.26%
DELTA ASKS THE JUSTICE DEPARTMENT TO PUT UNRULY TRAVELERS ON A ‘NO-FLY’ LIST
Delta Air Lines’ CEO Ed Bastian asked the U.S. Department of Justice to put convicted unruly travelers on a national “no-fly” list, the airline’s latest effort to deter aggressive behavior on flights that have surged during the pandemic. Bastian said that while such incidents are rare, a “no-fly” list “will help prevent future incidents and serve as a strong symbol of the consequences of not complying with crew member instructions on commercial aircraft,” he wrote to Attorney General Merrick Garland in a letter dated Jan. 3. The Federal Aviation Administration declared a “zero tolerance” policy for unruly travelers last year. In 2021, it logged a record 5,981 cases of unruly passenger behavior, 72% of them related to disputes over mask compliance. Enforcement actions were initiated in 350 cases. So far this year, the FAA received 323 reports of unruly passengers. Last September, Delta said airlines should share a central “no-fly” list of unruly passengers, arguing it could prevent individuals barred from flying on one carrier from traveling on another.
SOURCE: cnbc.com – Sunday 2/6/2022 – ENGAGEMENT: 1.63%
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 the past day.
A full weeks’ data (from Friday to Friday) is compiled, weighed, and sorted to produce the content for the Weekly Wrap-Up 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.
Connect with us directly by emailing us at theconversationinbox@gmail.com or by simply visiting thisistheconversation.com.
