Between the protests, the natural disasters, and the economy, it was quite the newsy year. So which story was the top dog? The killing of Osama bin Laden takes the No. 1 slot, according to the AP's yearly poll of US editors and news directors. Of the 247 ballots cast, the death of the al-Qaeda leader at the hands of Navy SEALs received 128 first-place votes. The remainder of the top 10:
- Japan's "triple disaster": the 9.0-magnitude earthquake, tsunami, and Fukushima nuclear crisis
- Arab Spring uprisings: from Tunisia to Egypt to Libya to Syria
- European Union's financial crisis: which left Greece in turmoil and toppled Italy's Silvio Berlusconi
- US economy: foreclosures and joblessness continue to plague the country
- Penn State sex abuse scandal: the claims against Jerry Sandusky tarnished one of America's most storied college football programs and took down coach Joe Paterno
- Gadhafi toppled in Libya: brought down by his own people after 42 years
- Fiscal showdowns in Congress: "partisan" was the name of the game, and the supercommittee failed
- Occupy Wall Street: from Zuccotti Park to squares around the world, the movement has made "the 1%" part of everyday speech
- Gabrielle Giffords shot: along with 18 others, in Tucson, in January
Missing out: the death of Steve Jobs, Hurricane Irene, the series of tornados that struck the Midwest and Southeastern US, and the repeal of "don't ask, don't tell." (More
Best of 2011 stories.)
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