

Al Jazeera's Top Stories of the Year - SlyShy
http://english.aljazeera.net/indepth/spotlight/aljazeeratop102010/

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gnosis
Wow, these are all really surprisingly and disappointingly conventional and
mainstream.

If someone had told me these were the BBC's top stories of the year, I would
have bought it.

~~~
johnswamps
Here are CNN's top stories for comparison:
[http://www.cnn.com/interactive/2010/12/specials/timeline.yea...](http://www.cnn.com/interactive/2010/12/specials/timeline.year.in.review/index.html?hpt=C1)
(warning: uses a timeline that you have to click through instead of a list,
but it's fairly painless for a timeline)

~~~
gnosis
Looks like it has some of the same stories, but it's definitely much more US-
focused. But that's definitely the case for virtually all the major US media,
which are very much in to US navel-gazing. The BBC is much more international
in scope, and is much closer to Al Jezeera in that sense.

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jdp23
Great list. It's remarkable how little the US figures in it.

~~~
gnosis
Judging just from the content of the headlines, that's true.

But if you think a bit about it, the US plays prominent roles in almost all of
the stories.

\- _WikiLeaks_ \- The US obviously plays a huge and role in this story.

\- _Flotilla: Gaza back in spotlight_ \- The US is a huge supporter of Israel
and a central participant in mediating the "peace process" in the region.

\- _Haiti: A series of catastrophes_ \- The US has played a central role in
the overall plight of Haiti, and is arguably one of the major reasons the
Haitians have been so ill prepared to deal with the catastrophes that struck
them.

\- _Gulf Oil Spill_ \- Obviously, this happened in the US itself.

\- _Pakistan: A flood of misery_ \- To my knowledge, no US involvement in
creating the economic conditions in Pakistan (unlike in Haiti).

\- _Chile: A miracle rescue_ \- A US-made drill was the one that reached them
first, if I remember correctly. And a team from NASA was on hand to help.

\- _World Cup: The games come to Africa_ \- Don't know anything about sports,
so can't really comment. But I'd expect there's not much of a role for the US
in this story.

\- _Europe: Rising to the right_ \- I think Europe's Islamophobia and its rise
of right-wing parties is influenced by the same in the US. Though, of course,
there are plenty of native influences there too.

\- _Iceland: Eyjafjallajokull erupts_ \- Ok, this one has nothing to do with
the US at all.

\- _Europe: Facing austere times_ \- The global economy is very
interconnected, and much of what happened and continues to happen in Europe on
this front is influenced by what happens in the US.

So, out of 10 stories, maybe 3 stories tops didn't have much if anything to do
with the US. In the rest the US was either a central player or peripherally
involved. Which isn't really surprising, considering it's now the lone
superpower and likes to meddle in many other nation's affairs.

~~~
jdp23
As you say it's not surprising that the US is involved in a most of the
stories but other than the Gulf Oil Spill and maybe Wikileaks I wouldn't say
they're ''about'' the US. Gaza for example is primarily an issue between
Israel, Palestinians, Egypt with the US along with Iran, various Arab
countries, the EU, Turkey, etc. as one of many important players.

