Lists Galore for Mainstream Media

This is the time of year that year-in-review lists are on the cover of every magazine and newspaper

Dec 29, 2006

Mainstream media outlets love to produce annual lists of the best and the worst of the previous year: whether these lists are valuable to readers and viewers is debatable

It is the time of year when mainstream media outlets bring out their ‘yearly review’ issues. It is always interesting, and somewhat surprising, to hear what the media saw as the big topics of the year.

For Time Magazine, the person of the year is ‘You’: they are celebrating the burgeoning power of people using technology to connect with others in their much-anticipated annual issue. For media outlets that look at celebrity news, Britney Spears' marriage breakdown, the birth of Tom Cruise's baby, and the never-ending Angelina and Brad love affair were the big stories this year. The media even reports on stories that might seem a bit dull to the average reader: today, there was a piece on the 10 biggest Canadian weather stories of the year, and it made the 'headlines' on MSN.ca news.

Looking back and reflecting on the year that has just gone by is undoubtedly a long-standing facet of human nature. At the end of each year, we think about what has happened, both the good and the bad, and begin to think about our goals, ideas, and dreams for the next year. However, the media's use of the list as a means to do this has a tendency to become a trite: picking the best celebrity news stories of the year hardly gets to the root of the issue of our fascination (and sometimes seeming obsession) with the rich and famous.

As well, these lists can be troublesome for those that are missed: when you look at the lists of Canadian newsmakers of the year, there is still an incredible lack of diversity (in age, gender, ethnicity, sexuality, etc) in who is chosen. For example, Christine Sinclair had another banner year as a top soccer player in the U.S. College system, and was awarded the Collegiate Woman Athlete of the Year award; she hardly merits a mention in many of the Canadian athlete top ten lists.

For the most part, lists are in 'good fun': they are enjoyable for both those writing them, and those reading them. The mainstream media knows that year-in-review issues tend to sell well, and journalists likely enjoy the light-hearted nature of such lists. With this said, let's hope that readers are able to take the lists with a grain of salt, and still value their own ideas, news stories, issues, political events, and more from the previous year.

The copyright of the article Lists Galore for Mainstream Media in Newspaper Journalism is owned by Kate Butler. Permission to republish Lists Galore for Mainstream Media in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.