Add function populateState for default sorting

administrator/components/com_content/models/featured.php

@@ -202,4 +202,21 @@ protected function getListQuery($resolveFKs = true)
 
 		return $query;
 	}
+
+	/**
+	 * Method to auto-populate the model state.
+	 *
+	 * Note. Calling getState in this method will result in recursion.
+	 *
+	 * @param   string  $ordering   An optional ordering field.
+	 * @param   string  $direction  An optional direction (asc|desc).
+	 *
+	 * @return  void
+	 *
+	 * @since   1.6
+	 */
+	protected function populateState($ordering = 'a.title', $direction = 'asc')
+	{
+		parent::populateState($ordering, $direction);
+	}
 }