the buzz log
Astor Trial Verdict Stirs the Web
The case of the swindled socialite appears to be over. The jury on the Brooke Astor trial found her 85-year-old son guilty of siphoning $60 million from his Alzheimer's-afflicted mom, who died at the age of 105 two years ago.
Searches on the Web immediately surged, with lookups on "brooke astor" and "astor verdict" both posting big gains.
The trial had gripped New York with all its Greek-tragedy implications. A fantastically wealthy philanthropist matriarch. A lackluster son who worked for his mother, accused of sneaking himself a million-dollar raise and helping himself to her cash. The conviction of one of the charges could mean up to 25 years in the clink.
The beleaguered son, Anthony Marshall, says his power of attorney allowed him to pay himself more, and to change his mother's will, which originally had benefited charities. He put a stop to the bequests, and instead directed most of the estate to himself. Instead of recipients like the Bronx Zoo and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Marshall altered the will to pay expenses like his yacht bill.
Mom's high-placed friends did nothing to help her son's case. None other than Barbara Walters and Henry Kissinger testified on her behalf, saying the society queen was not of sound mind at the end of her life — and that her son took full advantage. The prosecution presented 72 witnesses compared with two for Marshall's side. The trial dragged on for an eye-popping 19 weeks.
According to the New York Daily News, the jury found Marshall guilty of 14 out of 16 charges. Marshall plans to appeal. But the reputation of a fine family has already lost.
Filed under: New York City, Crime
August 2009 Buzz
The hot days of August became days of mourning for political leaders (Cory Aquino, Kim Dae-Jung, Ted Kennedy). Health conversations took on an unhealthy tone, and reality TV dominated real-life crime headlines. Below, a look at searches and buzzy stories on Yahoo! this month.
The Last Days of Camelot
While June's celebrity departures seemed a turning point for Generation X, the loss of two political paladins marked an era's passing. The legacy of America's most well-known political family came under review twice with the deaths of Eunice Kennedy Shriver, who founded the Special Olympics, and brother Edward Kennedy. Dogged by the Chappaquidick incident, the Massachusetts senator abandoned presidential ambition but still shaped everyday American life by helping to create nearly 1,000 laws on health, civil rights, disability, immigration, education, and more.
Health Check-Up's Negative Results
High decibel levels and superheated rhetoric complicated the already unwieldy mission to reform health care. Rifle-toting protesters and outright falsehoods made town-hall meetings look like a Jerry Springer episode. Still, online outreach—including details from the White House—and research into "obama health plan details" persisted. Meanwhile, more immediate health concerns pushed up queries for flu shots.
Reality Checks
The normally escapist fare of reality TV took an awful turn with a murder-suicide. The VH1 series "Megan Wants a Millionaire" had finished filming and aired only two episodes when news came out that a finalist, Ryan Jenkins, had allegedly killed his wife and swimsuit model, Jasmine Fiore. His suicide three days later led VH1 to cancel that show, as well as celebreality show "I Love Money 3," which Jenkins had competed and won.
Search Terms with the Biggest Percentage Changes
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Filed under: Health, Reality TV, Politics, Monthly Wrapup, Crime, Recaps, Death, Wrap Up
Law & Order: Special Fans Unit
In the criminal justice system, the people are represented by two separate yet equally important groups: the police, who investigate crime, and the district attorneys, who prosecute the offenders.
Wait—add a third: the viewers, who track down criminals on their own. Here is one story: Justine Faeth saves a dirty cup and used tissue, and catches a thief.
These days, most people would be hauling out the Purell and Lysol to clear away the biohazards, but Faether's not most people. Not only is she a New Yorker savvy to the ways of the criminal element, but the assistant at the Manhattan production company faithfully watches "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit." After a co-worker found her iPod, phone, and wallet stolen from her bag, Faeth suspected the stranger who came by to pitch a story idea and then kept hanging around, claiming to feel poorly and fetching himself a glass of water before he'd leave.
The Law part, though, almost got foiled when the police didn't seem too interested in taking the cup and tissue, brewing with DNA evidence and germs, for only a robbery. But, the cops had a change of heart after watching video surveillance tape: The next day, they retrieved the cup and tissue from the trash, and arrested ex-con Kevin Moore, allegedly responsible for a rash of robberies. The Order part kicked in when Moore was charged with burglary and larceny.
Of course, any good "L&O" story has a twist: Faeth's tale of forensic preservation and fandom got her on the Today Show, where she received a shout-out from "L&O" role model Mariska Hargitay, and a walk-on. So far, no such offer for Moore, who made this all possible. Maybe there's an opportunity at "Law & Order: Criminal Intent."
Filed under: TV, Law Enforcement, Crime
A Presidential Pardon (Me)
In the standoff between Harvard scholar Henry Louis Gates and Sgt. James Crowley, President Barack Obama is the first to issue the regrets.
After a Cambridge police officer arrested a black man on his own porch on July 16, talk about a continued black-white racial divide erupted from coast to coast. On Wednesday, the president waded into the prickly mess during his primetime pitch for a health care revamp. The last question of the night asked his opinion about the Gates-Crowley matter. After making a joke or two, Obama stepped into it by saying the Cambridge police acted "stupidly."
Use Adverbs with Caution
The "stupidly" comment was the parting shot heard round the nation. Gates' attorney Charles Ogletree (and Obama's former professor) felt the comments "right on terms in that we have a problem," but the Cambridge police force demanded an apology and Crowley himself (who teaches classes in racial profiling) said he was disappointed by the words although he supported his president 110%.
Mea Culpa?
Two days later, however, Obama made a surprise appearance at his press secretary's daily briefing to recount a short telephone call with the sargeant. "I just had a conversation with Jim Crowley, the officer involved," he told the White House press corps. "My impression of him was that he was an outstanding police officer and a good man, and that was confirmed in the conversation and I told him that."
Reaction Shots
Regrets aside, the president said his basic impressions hadn't changed. "I continue to believe, based on what I heard, that there was an overreaction in pulling Professor Gates out of his home to the station. I also continue to believe, based on what I heard, Professor Gates overreacted as well."
His earlier call for "cooler heads" adds another layer on top of the issues of race and civil liberties, something that one Boston Globe column called "machismo." As Joan Vennochi put it: "The question is whether this police officer responded more harshly [to Gates' grouchiness] because of skin color. The answer isn’t obvious, but both men could use some sensitivity training. Gates shouldn’t have yelled at the police officer; still, what he did was irritating, not criminal. Once the officer determined Gates did live in the house, he should have left, no matter what the professor was shouting."
Breaking Bread or Just a Beer Bash?
State Senator Anthony Gallucio actually went to high school with Crowley and knows Gates. He doesn't believe "that their behavior was rooted in race," and is trying to set up a face-to-face. Maybe then two men—by all accounts smart, reasonable, and upstanding—might actually reach some accord and learn from what Obama has called the "teachable moment."
The president's offer of talking it over some beers still stands.
Filed under: Politics, Crime, African-American History
Not Too Classy: Professor Arrested
Here's a teachable moment: Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates, Jr., was arrested for breaking into his own house. Really.
It went down like this. A Cambridge, Massachusetts neighbor called the cops on the African American studies head after she observed him and a friend attempting to force open the door of his house. In the middle of the day.
The officer who arrived on the scene seemed confused about being called for a robbery when only the resident was there. He asked the ornery professor to show his ID and step outside to his porch. That's when things got ugly. Gates got mad, accused the policeman of racism, and in front of several witnesses, got cuffed and arrested for "disorderly conduct."
Interest in the arrest immediately spiked as the news spread. (You can read the police report for more details.)
Oh, and the reason Gates had to force open his door in the first place? It was busted. From an attempted robbery.
Filed under: Crime, College and Universities
top movers
| Rank | Subject | 1-Day Move |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ford 400 | Breakout! |
| 2 | Indonesia Ferry | Breakout! |
| 3 | Jordan Chandler | 3481% |
| 4 | Evan Chandler | 2322% |
| 5 | American Music Awards | 1841% |
| 6 | John F. Kennedy | 1529% |
| 7 | Turkey Stuffing Recipes | 1361% |
| 8 | Liam Hemsworth | 1172% |
| 9 | Lou Dobbs | 1142% |
| 10 | Hendrick Motorsports | 888% |
top leaders
| Rank | Subject | Move | Score |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Black Friday | +340 | 1290 |
| 2 | NFL | +489 | 670 |
| 3 | Jennifer Lopez | +451 | 515 |
| 4 | New Moon | -67 | 250 |
| 5 | American Music Awards | +236 | 249 |
| 6 | UFC | -36 | 239 |
| 7 | Miley Cyrus | +66 | 169 |
| 8 | Hulu | -11 | 154 |
what's the buzz?
A subject's buzz score is the percentage of Yahoo! users searching for that subject on a given day, multiplied by a constant to make the number easier to read. Weekly leaders are the subjects with the greatest average buzz score for a given week.
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