Top National News Stories of 2007

"Top National News Stories" is a difficult subject to define. Are these the stories that the most people were interested in, or the events that made the most difference in the world? How should we judge them? I'm not even sure how I decided on my top stories for the year, but here, in no particular order, is my list.

The Writers Guild of America Strike

The Writers Guild strike started on November 5, 2007, and continues to date, but the effects haven't been felt for much of the general population. Most popular network series have continued to show new episodes that had already been written and/or taped prior to the strike. However, as of December 14, most scripted shows are expected to be shut down by the week of December 19 (UPI, December 14, 2007).

Most recently, reports say that the Writers Guild may begin negotiating with individual production companies, including David Letterman's Worldwide Pants, which means some writers may be heading back to work soon if those negotiations work out. (UPI, December 16, 2007)

The 2008 Presidential campaign

This campaign seems like it's been going on forever already. According to Wikipedia, seventeen Democratic debates and fourteen Republican debates have been held, beginning in April 2007. Candidates have criss-crossed the country, and have moved up and down in the various polls. The first primaries will be in January; no clear winners have emerged as yet.

The U.S. and Iran

Okay, this is also an international story, but since this directly affects U.S. citizens, I'm calling it a national news story. The December 3 National Intelligence Estimate (prepared through the collaboration of 16 intelligence agencies) says that Iran has had no nuclear weapons program since 2003. Shouldn't we be happy about that? President Bush says no. He says Iran could still start up a program if they wanted to, so we should still be worried. (press conference, December 4)