the buzz log
An Internet Horror Story
Last Halloween, Nikki Catsouras snuck her father's Porsche out of the garage for a joyride. Within the hour, the 18 year old was found dead on the side of the road in a vicious car wreck. California Highway Patrol arrived on the scene and documented it, as they usually do.
Later, though, somebody at the CHP broke protocol and emailed images of the accident—graphic, gruesome images—outside the agency. What happened since has spiraled into an Internet horror story.
The pictures spread like wildfire, soon showing up on more than 1,000 different sites. A fake MySpace page was set up for Nikki. Her father was "spammed" with emails of his dead daughter's body. The Catsourases yanked their other daughters out of school for fear of them seeing the brutal images of their sister. They sued the CHP. In November, a judge allowed the suit to go forward.
On Friday, 20/20 ran a segment on the story. The next day, searches for "nikki catsouras" and "porsche girl" flooded the Buzz. We see a lot of queries, but we were astounded by the number and variation of lookups seeking images of the teen and her death. Consider yourselves warned. These pictures are brutal, as is this tragic tale.
Filed under: Legal Cases, Law, Accidents
The Price of Intolerance
By any measure, a soldier's funeral is a risky venue for a protest. But to Kansas' Westboro Baptist Church, last rites are a venue to protest what its members perceive as America's permissive attitudes towards homosexuality.
This week, a jury awarded the father of a dead Marine $10.9 million, agreeing the protest—which included touting signs saying "Thank God for dead soldiers"—constituted an invasion of privacy and severe emotional distress. After the verdict, searches on the church jumped 6,000%. People also looked up their Web site, founder Fred Phelps, and his daughter and adherent Shirley Phelps-Roger.
The notorious Topeka church has landed on the Buzz radar before. Most notorious for picketing Wyoming gay student Matthew Shepard's 1998 funeral, they garnered searches last October after threatening to picket the funerals of the Amish girls killed in a spree shooting, then agreeing to appear on a nationally syndicated radio show instead. Queries have also followed "patriot guard riders," a motorcycle group that initially formed to escort and shield mourners against the church.
Despite the verdict, the outraged buzz likely won't die down. The Phelps family have said they will appeal and plan more protests. With 40 states now keeping tabs on this hate group, we'll see if their tactics—and their finances—can withstand the scrutiny.
Filed under: Legal Cases, News
This Fall's Hottest Suits
Kill all the lawyers, sure. But not before the gritty details of their cases are posted online. Each week, thousands of searchers hit the Web seeking grievances formally registered in court. But which proceedings rose to the top of the most sought-out "lawsuit" searches over the past seven days? Read at your own risk...
A few notes on the above...
–Oh, your cheatin' heart. Two of the top legal proceedings listed here, "don't date him girl lawsuit" (#1) and "1-800 flowers lawsuit" (#16), concern the outcomes of men's allegedly wandering ways.
–Another duo—"mesothelioma lawsuit" (#6) and "asbestos lawsuit" (#9)—seeks information on the disease mesothelioma, which is caused by exposure to asbestos.
–The pharmaceutical industry sits heavy on the list. Demand for class action cases on Ortho Evra (#3), Vioxx (#11), Avandia (#12), Seroquel (#13), Zyprexa (#14), and Fosamax (#19) all involve drug makers.
–Both "michael vick lawsuit" (#4) and "jonathan lee riches lawsuit" (#5) are looking for background on one of the world's most litigious prison inmates, Mr. Riches, and his outlandish suit against the NFL quarterback.
–Question: Does anyone know more about "erin andrews lawsuit," the search standing on the sidelines of #7?
–As for The Geek Squad at #8, Best Buy's "rapid-response computer task force" was recently slapped with a "peeping geek" suit.
–And finally, cry havoc and let slip the dogs of law. TV's favorite canine whisperer, Cesar Millan (#17), was served with a lawsuit alleging animal cruelty. It was settled in March of this year.
Filed under: Legal Cases, Law
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.
For more detailed information, visit our FAQ.