Bhutto Story Gives Parade Big Web Boost

Parade magazine's Web site received the largest number of unique visitors in its history on December 27, the day of Benazir Bhutto's assassination, when it released its feature on Bhutto, scheduled to be the cover story for its January 6 print issue, more than a week early.

Approximately 81,000 users visited the site on the day the piece was posted, compared to Parade.com's daily average of 31,000, and the article received more than 100,000 page views. The writer of the article, Gail Sheehy, who is a contributing editor for Parade, has appeared on The O'Reilly Factor, Larry King Live, CNN's The Situation Room, the CBS Early Show, and ABC Radio, among other programs to discuss the interview.

The magazine felt the story's early release online was the "journalistically responsible thing to do," a spokesperson for Parade told FOLIO:. "We wanted people to see it to bring attention to a prescient story."

Sheehy's interview with Bhutto took place in late November. In the article, Bhutto tells Sheehy, "I am what the terrorists most fear." The article will appear, as scheduled, in Parade's January 6 issue, which had already gone to press by the day of Bhutto's assassination.

A profile on Benazir Bhutto also appears in More magazine's December/January issue and on More.com, based on an October interview with Bhutto by writer and Bhutto's former Harvard classmate Amy Wilentz.

SEE RELATED BLOG POST: Did Parade Handle Bhutto Coup Correctly?

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COMMENTS: 4

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The real reason for the traffic.

Submitted by Anonymous on Sun, 01/06/2008 - 06:45.

The only reason why this story got such record-breaking traffic for Parade was because it was in horribly bad taste. Bhutto was murdered on December 27, and this article, which makes NO MENTION OF THE ASSASSINATION, hit the stands on January 6th! This is absolutely appalling. They're talking in this article about how she's a great hope against terrorism, but...SHE'S DEAD! Martyrdom aside, they messed up horribly on this one.

this story ran on December 27

Submitted by Anonymous on Mon, 01/07/2008 - 00:10.

This story did huge numbers for parade.com on December 27, the date of Bhutto's assassination.

Parade = Journalism?

Submitted by Anonymous on Mon, 01/07/2008 - 11:40.

Beyond the comedy which is Walter Scott's Personality Parade, this is one reason why Parade is utterly ridiculous. Any journalistic outlet that publishes in newspapers ONCE PER WEEK would have made every effort to change the story to reflect the assassination. To allow those copies into print was tasteless and lazy, regardless of whether it went to print or not.

Bhutto article

Submitted by Anonymous on Mon, 01/07/2008 - 14:46.

I don't agree at all. The article was written and the magazine printed. History occurred in the meantime. You can't rewrite history. Sure, it might have been nice of Parade to take the financial hit and reprint its entire run, either with a new story or with an updated cover acknowledging the assassination, but the article is still worth reading.

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