December 19, 2010 – News outlets covering the north side of the Loop have likely sent holiday cards this year to film director Michael Bay. When he turned the neighborhood into a disaster site for his Transformers sequel, he gave news websites, even a hyper-local site like Marina City Online, a big audience for photos of the movie mayhem.

More than 63,000 times in 2010, someone somewhere clicked on an MCO news story. Marina City Online published more than 200 news stories in 2010 but three of its top ten most-read stories – including the top story of 2010 – were about giant extra-terrestrial robots.

(Left) This is probably the last time in 2010 we have an excuse to run this photo of pyrotechnics on the Wacker Drive set of Transformers 3.

“Time, money issues cut Marina City role in Transformers 3” was a November 17 article about a stunt in the movie that did not happen. It got a response from Bay himself, who challenged a claim made by a source in the story who said his movie was over budget.

Four of the top ten stories were about John Cooper, the law student from Michigan who ended his life in May from the roof of the west tower at Marina City. MCO obtained a copy of the police report, interviewed witnesses and other sources, and answered many questions about the tragedy except for “why?”

Downtown celebrity Vincent Falk, a favorite subject because we very rarely have to file a Freedom of Information Act request to get news about him, was the subject of the fourth most-read story – about a complication following eye surgery in May that has since stabilized.

Also in the top ten is a January story about the failed Waterview construction project, diagonal from Marina City, and coverage in March of the Asian carp controversy that mobilized businesses that are dependent on the Chicago River.

Toward the top of most read stories in 2010 are two stories from previous years. Still finding an audience are “1966 photo shows a young John Denver in a new Marina City apartment” from January 2008 and “Marina City LEGO model on display at Museum of Science and Industry” from July 2009.

Officially, the least-read article in 2010? Probably something that other media outlets were covering, not just Marina City Online – “Air & Water Show this weekend.”