Peter Wilby contends that it was a year of stories that didn’t quite happen, such as George Bush not bombing Iran, Glasgow airport not getting blown up, Prince William not getting engaged, and so on.

So the main story of the year was four-year-old Madeleine McCann who regularly made it to the front pages – although there was few significant developments since May.

So most of what was written since then “has been based on speculation and, dare I say it, invention. When their inventiveness dried up, the papers fell back on asking themselves why they were so interested in the case,” resumes Wilby.

According to Wilby, the interest for Madeleine extended overseas too, so it’s convenient for him to say that “the answer surely lies in reader demand.” Especially considering the story about a disappearing canoe man was the next big story for the press.

Without entering too deeply the debate about responsibility for the news agenda, Wilby does conclude that, in any case, the year has been grim for the British press concerning the ‘big’ stories:

“The brutal truth is that, while almost every reader of a British paper can imagine what it's like to have your child disappear on holiday or to want to fake your death and start afresh, few can imagine what it's like to be an Iraqi.”

Source: Guardian