And this year's Newsmaker is...
2010-12-21 13:21
The Soccer World Cup has been named as 2010’s biggest news event. News24, South Africa’s largest digital news platform, named the World Cup its Newsmaker after thousands of users voted for the candidate or event of their choice.
The Chilean mining rescue story came second while, rhino poaching, came in third.
Jannie Momberg, News24’s editor says: “This year has been an interesting mix of local and international stories making the headlines. 2010 was probably the year where South Africa received the most favourable international news coverage since 1994.”
ANC Youth League leader, Julius Malema, was the only person to appear on the list more than once.
A shortlist of 11 newsmaker finalists, chosen each month from a panel of three, were put forward for the public’s vote during the first half of December.
The final results were:
1. World Cup
2. Chile Miners
3. Rhino poaching
4. Haiti Earthquake
5. Honeymoon tourist hijacking
6. Panjo the tiger
7. Eugene Terre Blanche
8. Julius Malema
9. Schoolbus accident
10. Julius Malema lifestyle
11. Lolly Jackson
Previous winners include Jacob Zuma (2007), Barack Obama (2008) and Michael Jackson (2009).
In another yearend list News24 joined Justin Bieber and Die Antwoord as one of the fastest rising search terms in South Africa in 2010 on Google’s annual 'Zeitgeist' report. The World Cup in South Africa was the top “global event”.
The World Cup also ranked prominently on Facebook and Twitter’s top trends for 2010.
