Obama, Economy Top News on 2008’s Front Pages

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Courtesy The Bakersfield Californian, Nov. 5, 2008.

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Courtesy The Wall Street Journal, Sept. 15, 2008.

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Courtesy News-Journal (Daytona Beach, Fla.), March 16, 2008.

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Courtesy The Gazette (Colorado Springs, Colo.) Aug. 9, 2008.

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Courtesy Anchorage Daily News, Aug. 30, 2008.

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Courtesy Philadelphia Daily News, April 23, 2008.

The historic election of Barack Obama as the country’s first African-American president was the No. 1 news story of 2008, according to an Associated Press annual poll of the top 10 news stories.

Obama’s unprecedented victory sent readers scrambling for newspaper souvenirs, forcing many newspapers around the country to publish extra copies in record numbers.

The U.S. economy — including the collapse of Wall Street banks, housing foreclosures and stock market dives — was the second biggest story of the year.

Rounding out the top 10:

3. Sky-rocketing oil prices
4. The war in Iraq
5. The Beijing Olympics
6. The earthquake in China
7. Gov. Sarah Palin’s vice presidential bid
8. Terrorism in Mumbai
9. Sen. Hillary Clinton’s presidential bid
10. The Russia-Georgia war

The front pages for many of these news stories can be found in the Newseum’s archive of front pages.