Part one of two
The Citizen newsroom made its pick for the Canadian Press newsmakers of the year Thursday in an online poll.
The exercise is a valuable one as we look back on the year that was. Longtime CBC newsman Knowlton Nash described journalism as "history on the run" so the end of each year is a chance for a quick glance back over the shoulder before charging into the new year.
We introduced our nominees for Prince George newsmaker of the year in Thursday's paper on page 2 and on our website. Based on your votes, which can be cast at [email protected], we'll name the newsmaker of the year for Prince George in the Dec. 31 edition of the Citizen.
It was a busy year for news in Prince George, from the opening of the Cancer Centre for the North, the deadly explosion and fire that destroyed Lakeland Mills, the police shooting of Greg Matters at his Pineview home, and the Northern Gateway pipeline hearings, to name just a few.
Most of the nominees at the national level for newsmaker of the year were either the faces of major regional stories, especially in Eastern Canada, or were merely famous (or infamous).
Gary Bettman and Donald Fehr are newsmakers only if you care about hockey, Justin Bieber is only a newsmaker if you care about teen idol singers and the only person who really cares about Conrad Black is... Conrad Black. There was a list of premiers, including Christy Clark. Then the list became news trivia.
Helene Campbell?
Jeffrey Paul Delisle?
Lino Zambito?
Gerald Tremblay?
Rob Ford?
Omar Khadr?
Amanda Todd made the list but does anyone outside of B.C. remember who she was?
But one name everyone remembered.
Luka Magnotta.
Killing a man normally doesn't make national news but it sure does when the dismemberment video is available online for days before police investigate, when parts show up at addresses across the country, including a B.C. school, and when the alleged killer, Magnotta, sparks an international manhunt when he flees to Europe.
Magnotta was our easy choice for CP newsmaker of the year.
We put our homer hat and chose the Northern Gateway pipeline as the CP news story of the year. Compared to the robocalls scandal, the elections in Quebec and Alberta, the NHL lockout, the Quebec student protests, the beef recall and a selection of regional stories, Northern Gateway is a hugely significant national story that ties into the environment, resource development, politics, First Nations, international trade, technology, energy, economy and federal-provincial rights and responsibilities.
Whether the project is approved or not at the end of 2013, the impact of the pipeline proposal will be felt for years to come.
Tomorrow, we'll share our picks for CP male athlete, female athlete and team of year, as well as our choices for business newsmaker and business story of the year.
