Here are the top 11 stories from thenewstribune.com for 2006. I give you 11 instead of 10 because No. 11 missed cracking the top 10 by just handful of page views.

1. Murderer tells families to ‘get over it’ (Karen Hucks)
2. Brett Favre a Seahawk? Nutty, maybe, but it makes sense to me (John McGrath)
3. IRS tracked taxpayers’ affiliations online (Les Blumenthal)
4. Man could be charged under cruelty law (Karen Hucks)
5. Police log: Shots, pot and even prostitutes (Karen Hucks)
6. The siren call of MySpace.com (Debby Abe)
7. Girl said she was 19, man testifies at trial (Karen Hucks)
8. Lewis could go in draft deal (Frank Hughes)
9. A bloody legacy (Sean Robinson)
10. New Stryker boasts plenty of firepower (Michael Gilbert)
11. A bargain at $288,750? Buyer beware (Susan Gordon)

The announcement today that the King County Journal will cease publication (last issue on Jan. 21) marks the end of a sad chapter in the region's mass media history. I worked for the company for a few years back in the 1990s, when the paper changed its name from the Bellevue Journal American and when the Internet appeared on the landscape.

Back then I was a sports writer, not a web editor. I remember, in 1996, talk with others in the newsroom who were equally mystified at how little the paper's management did to build a Web presence. When you consider yourself Microsoft's hometown newspaper, as the Journal did at the time, you have an opportunity that few other daily newspapers could match. But little energy and fewer resources were dedicated to the online product. Sadly, the web site looks about the same today as it did when it launched 10 years ago.

The new owners, Black Press Ltd., cited the previous owners’ mistakes – “particularly a decision to cut the marketing budget” – as reasons to shutter the operation. I’m not sure if new media development would be considered “marketing” in this case, but it does in my book.

Some observers will chalk this up to the pending demise of all newspapers. But from my point of view, it says more about the previous ownership’s failures than it does about the changing media landscape. After all, this is a newspaper that lost money during the delirious 1990s of the dot-com boom, a time when other newspapers were swimming in cash.

R.I.P. Journal American/King County Journal

OK, T-town, time to step up to the map.

A new Web 2.0 site called Wikimapia is growing quickly, but Tacoma's participation thus far has been, well, weak. The site is built on Google's satellite image maps and invites readers to "map" their neighborhoods and towns by drawing boxes around the perimeters of property and buildings and then describing what they're submitting.

So yes, it's Wikipedia plus maps, just like the name implies.

Browsing around Tacoma (actually it feels like flying over it), there were very few submitted sites, other than the schools. When compared to other places, it's a little disappointing. Look at Seattle, for example. Even Olympia appears to have more.

So, come on Tacoma - start mapping.

Operating a newspaper is a business. The News Tribune makes most of its money by charging for advertising that is placed in the pages of the newspaper. The industry has been trying for 10 years to match that revenue flow online where - as anyone will tell you - all the readers are going.

But there's a balance that needs to be struck. If you make it too difficult on readers to get to the content, they'll leave and you'll have no more eyeballs to sell to advertisers. That's why you don't see many ads on our homepage.

I was reading the TNT Prep Blog just now and followed a link to the Bremerton paper's web site. Once there, I could barely read the article because of how little screen space was given to content. There were ads everywhere, which is good for business I guess. But I wonder how many readers and potential readers are turned off by the dominance of advertising.

Most newspapers run a ratio of about 50-50 or 60-40 between advertising and news. I don't see how a news web site can exceed that ratio and not alienate its audience.

'Tis the season for year-end wrap up stories. You can expect a healthy dose of them on TV and in newspapers and magazines from now until January. There are two reasons for this, in my opinion. Readers like them and, more importantly, editors like them because they can be done in advance and used during the final 10 days of the year when half the staff is taking time off.

As we've done the past few years, we're asking you to help us pick the top 10 local stories. While we print a ballot in the paper to fill out, the editor who's responsible for this hopes you'll use the online form so he doesn't have to count too many by hand. (Vote now.) Last year, we received hundreds through the online form and only a handful via the mail.

Apparently our neighbors to the south are seeing a more active Mount St. Helens this week. Except that it's not actually doing anything new, but the volcano's vapor is more visible in the cold weather, according to this news article.

Check out the volcano web cam for a recent look.

What do you think of Time Magazine's decision to name "You" as its Person of the Year? It was called a "cop out" by one editor here at the newspaper. Personally, I think it's a bit weird, not quite fitting the criteria (I'm pretty sure the collective population does more than one person every year), but if it validates user generated content online for some mainstream news organizations who have yet to come to the party, all the better.

Of course, as others are warning, it could mean the beginning of the bubble burst. NPR has a nice acceptance speech, too, in case you're still working on yours.

So what do you think? Does Time's selection legitimize Web 2.0 and the era of participation? Or is the age of YouTube and Wikipedia a fad like famous flops of the first Internet wave? (Think Webvan, Flooz and Boo.)

We're cranking out our now usual overload of breaking news coveragethanks to the hustling efforts of our local news staff. Fortunately we kept power overnight and were able to print the newspaper this morning, which is something that didn't happen in Seattle.

But we were a little perplexed this morning when our Breaking News Alert and early updates and breaking news blog and photo gallery weren't driving additional traffic to our site (as it usually does). Then it dawned on me: the story is about people without power - how can they read the news online?

As the morning progressed and people began arriving at work, the numbers began to climb. But it does present a problem I don't have an answer for: how do we get news to people in the event no one has power?

While I ponder that, please check out our coverage and let us know what it looks like where you're at. And if you are taking pictures of damage, share them with other readers.

I found a new place for a free wifi yesterday and went to add it to our Free Wifi Map. Lo and behold, someone had already beat me to it.

That's the power of opening up a web site and allowing the users to participate. It may have been the business owner who added the item in the hopes of drumming up some business, but who cares? It's good information, especially when it's the closest wifi hotspot to your house.

In case you're wondering, we have 107 hotspots listed now. Take a look and make sure your favorites are listed.

Here’s an intriguing prediction: the ubiquity of digital cameras and Web 2.0 sites like Flickr will lead to the demise of the professional photographer.

This comes from citizen journalism prophet Dan Gillmor, who explains his view in the Citizen Media Blog here and initiates reaction from the Poynter Institute blog here.

They can’t possibly compete in the media-sphere of the future. We’re entering a world of ubiquitous media creation and access. When the tools of creation and access are so profoundly democratized, and when updated business models connect the best creators with potential customers, many if not most of the pros will fight a losing battle to save their careers.

I don’t think any of The News Tribune photographers should be concerned about their jobs, but the game has definitely changed. Exhibit A: look at this Flickr collection from last weekend’s football championship game at the Tacoma Dome. On other occasions, local bloggers have had more complete photographic coverage of certain local events than the daily newspaper. But day in and day out, you'll find the best, most complete photojournalism in any community at the local newspaper. And, as Gillmor admits in an update to his post, amateur photographers are no threat to professional feature photography.

This isn't a zero-sum game. It's not either professional OR amateur. In my view, the more photos the better.

Funny how things grow online.

Aaron Pedersen, a local web developer, launched a personal restaurant directory to help him make dinner decisions three years ago. Since then, his site has grown into a full-fledged business directory and link resource site.

“The goal of northtacoma.net is to provide the residents of North Tacoma with local information they need every day,” Pedersen said.

It’s great for one-stop shopping on links to local businesses and has a local touch that help, too. We’ve been talking about building a restaurant guide for longer than Aaron’s site has been online. Until we find time for it, I’ll probably use northtacoma.net.

It's not local, but it's worth a look: Yahoo's Most Popular Searches for 2006. Thankfully most of the top news searches are not celebrity-centered, but it's rather sad that Yahoo even publishes a list of the top celebrity baby searches.

Here are the top 10 stories for November:

1. Hasselbeck has broken finger (Sando)
2. Hitters fill market (Larue)
3. Residents told to evacuate (Lynn, Tucker, Montes)
4. Feud between Hill, bench boiling (Hughes)
5. Nature moves a mountain, to everyone’s astonishment (Hill)
6. Virtually everyone is fishing for pitchers (Larue)
7. Maybe new name for Hawks’ Stevens would catch on (McGrath)
8. Never mind glass, grit, Tacoma’s good for sex (Cosgrove)
9. Seattle goes fishing for two arms, bat (Larue)
10. A first look at storm-tossed Rainier (Hill)