Our 2023 edition of The Most Engaging Stories of the year reflects a year in which catastrophes, wars, and obituaries drove news cycles, but the perseverance of the human spirit and our need for connection broke through as well. As told by engagement, readers spent the most time with stories like the search for the Titan submersible, the unexpected deaths of celebrities, and the war in Gaza.

The most engaging story of the year comes from Richard Winton, Matt Brennan, and Connor Sheets at the Los Angeles Times for their reporting on Matthew Perry’s death. The Times also had the second most-engaging story of the year with Authorities identify 72-year-old man as suspected gunman in Lunar New Year mass shooting and number ten on our list, ‘Widespread flooding’ expected as intense Hilary pounds Southern California.

For the second year in a row, CNN had the most entries on the list, spanning human interest topics like She broke up with her boyfriend and moved in with a man she’d known for 3 weeks. Here’s what happened to political reporting like Takeaways from the first Republican presidential primary debate.

Selected from more than 39 million pieces of content, and totaling 228 billion minutes of Engaged Time, the stories featured reflect the variety of coverage we saw this past year.

Get started with the top stories and themes below, and view the full list here.

The 10 Most Engaging Stories of 2023

1. LOS ANGELES TIMES | Friends star’ Matthew Perry dead at 54, found in hot tub at L.A. home
2. LOS ANGELES TIMES | Authorities identify 72-year-old man as suspected gunman in Lunar New Year mass shooting
3. CNN | She broke up with her boyfriend and moved in with a man she’d known for 3 weeks. Here’s what happened
4. FOX NEWS | Handyman turns the tables on squatters who took over his mother’s house
5. ESPN | Damar Hamlin in critical condition after suffering cardiac arrest; Bills-Bengals postponed
6. BBC | What is Hamas, and what’s happening in Israel and Gaza? A really simple guide
7. CNN | Titanic-bound submersible suffered ‘catastrophic implosion.’ The US Navy detected an implosion Sunday and told rescuers, an official tells CNN
8. CNN | A migrant crossed the border and found a scared, 9-year-old Arizona boy alone in the desert. The encounter changed them both
9. THE WASHINGTON POST | A catatonic woman awakened after 20 years. Her story may change psychiatry.
10. LOS ANGELES TIMES | ‘Widespread flooding’ expected as intense Hilary pounds Southern California

The most engaging themes of 2023

Catastrophe

On top of deadly natural disasters like Tropical Storms Hilary and Idalia and fires in Maui and Canada, there were man-made catastrophes as well, and none so engaging as the rescue efforts surrounding the Titan submersible.

Memorial

The Los Angeles Times’ obituary for ‘Friends star’ Matthew Perry is our most engaging story of 2023. Other notable figures we paid tribute to this year include Elvis’s daughter, Lisa Marie Presley, Irish singer Sinéad O’Connor, and former First Lady, Rosalynn Carter.

Human Connection

Though we mustn’t look away from the tougher topics, it’s clear that audiences also crave a daily dose of good news. We see it in stories like number 9 on our list from CNN, “A migrant crossed the border and found a scared, 9-year-old Arizona boy alone in the desert. The encounter changed them both.”

How we determine the most engaging stories

The quantitative factors

Our Data Science team analyzed more than 39 million pieces of content published in 2023, representing more than 228 billion minutes of Engaged Time. The top 500 articles were then sorted by Total Engaged Minutes*, individually reviewed and categorized, and narrowed down to 105 stories based on a series of qualitative criteria outlined below.

How we calculate Total Engaged Time

Total Engaged Time is the total amount of time visitors spent actively reading and interacting on pages. Read more about our Engagement metrics.

The qualitative factors

We assembled a cross-functional team of readers and curators from inside Chartbeat (many of whom have a journalistic or editorial background) to determine the criteria for this list. Beyond Total Engaged Minutes, we want to ensure that the list celebrates original reporting. More difficult to determine is the criteria for stories that do not make the list, but these include:

• Live blog coverage that assembled content across multiple news cycles
• Collections of uploaded documents without original reporting
• Listicles comprised primarily of social media reposts or images
• Sports scores, box scores, and individual league rankings
• Quizzes and interactives that do not contain reporting and/or are continually updated throughout the year

* Editor’s note: The engagement data was compiled December 6, 2023. We will continue to review traffic to articles after that date to account for the impact of any breaking news.

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