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Best of the Halo 2006
BustedHalo's Sirius Growth
Over the course of 2006, BustedHalo has had approximately three quarters of a million readers—nearly three times the number we had in 2005—but the statistics only tell part of the story. During the past 12 months BustedHalo has grown in ways that numbers can’t quantify.
- This past October, our “Pure Sex, Pure Love” relationship columnist Dr. Christine Whelan published her first book, Why Smart Men Marry Smart Women with Simon & Schuster. She was featured on “Good Morning America,” CNN as well as in the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post and numerous other television, print and radio outlets across the country. Since its publication Christine has hit the road and is becoming a popular speaker on relationship topics as well. The fact that feedback from her BustedHalo readers over the past two years was integral to Why Smart Men Marry Smart Women got published in the first place is not only a source of great pride for us here at the magazine but also a tremendous validation of our readers’ concerns and interests.
- Since we first profiled Rocco Palmo and his Whispers in the Loggia blog back in June there has been a veritable stampede to jump on his bandwagon. Rocco has been featured in Philadelphia magazine, NPR, CNN and the Baltimore Sun to name but a few. The bi-weekly “Almost Holy” column he’s been writing for us since July is consistently one of the most popular features on BustedHalo. Rocco’s ability to combine the perspective of a “normal” 23-year old with his deep knowledge of Church tradition is, to say the least, unique. Through his BH column, Rocco acts as an interpreter of sorts between those “inside” the institutional Catholic Church and the countless number of young adults whose understanding of faith and organized religion is limited at best. It is the kind of bridge-building and interpretation of faith and culture that is at the core of BustedHalo’s mission. Rocco’s star is on the rise and while we are proud that we were the first media outlet anywhere to profile him, we are prouder still that he is a member of our team.
- In the past year, our managing editor, Mike Hayes was also elected the president of the National Catholic Young Adult Ministry Association, a national organization that supports those who minister to and with single and married people in their late teens, twenties, and thirties.
- But perhaps the biggest news of all happened in the last month of the year. On Monday December 4, our publisher, Paulist Father Dave Dwyer took our magazine from website to satellite when he launched the “BustedHalo Show” on Sirius Satellite Radio. In the longstanding Paulist tradition of involvement with media, Fr. Dave is now using the skills he acquired at MTV and Comedy Central and applying them every weekday from 7-9pm (EST) on Sirius’ Catholic Channel. The show reflects a good deal of the content we do for the online magazine—editor-in-chief Bill McGarvey and managing editor Mike Hayes are frequent on-air collaborators—but, unlike the web version, Fr. Dave is able to speak directly with listeners and answer their questions. Give him a call: 1-888-3CATHOLIC.
In addition to these new developments we continue to cover the people, stories and trends that “spiritual seekers” find compelling. From interviews with Sufjan Stevens, Andrew Sullivan and Sr. Helen Prejean to stories on Jewish Christians or JC’s Girls who minister to women in the world of adult entertainment we hope we’ve given our readers and podcast listeners a sense of how differently the same Spirit manifests itself in the people, places and events all around us.
We think you’ll enjoy this small sampling of stories from the past year. There were many worthy articles that we weren’t able to include, but we believe the ones we’re featuring here are a good cross section of some of the best from the past 12 months.
We are grateful to our readers for your continued enthusiasm and support. Thanks to word of mouth from people like you, we were able to reach an ever-growing number of “spiritual seekers.” In 2007, we hope to continue to reflect the reality of the lives of seekers like you, even if it is just to remind all of us that, though our journeys may be different, we are never on them alone.
Comments to: editor@bustedhalo.com
Best of the Halo 2006
Comments to: editor@bustedhalo.com
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