Bill Clinton's election as president was the top news story of 1992, according to an Associated Press survey of U.S. news executives.
It was followed in the rankings by two more domestic stories, the Los Angeles riots and Hurricane Andrew, and two international events, the U.S. intervention in Somalia and the civil war in Yugoslavia.The stories were ranked by 160 U.S. newspaper editors and broadcast directors in the AP's 56th annual survey.
After several years in which the survey was dominated by international news, this year's rankings were top-heavy with domestic stories, which accounted for six of the 10.
The second half of the Top 10 included the continuing U.S. recession (No. 6), the Supreme Court's abortion ruling (No. 8) and the trial and sentencing of serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer (No. 10).
In between were the aftermath of the Soviet Union's collapse (No. 7) and the release of two Germans who were the final Western hostages in Lebanon (No. 9).
The selection of the presidential election as the top news story was no surprise. Presidential elections are usually dominant news events in the United States, and this year's campaign was especially turbulent and dramatic.
The riots and hurricane, Nos. 2 and 3 in the rankings, were among the worst disasters in the nation's history, causing more than $21 billion damage and 100 deaths between them.
Here are the top news stories of 1992, as selected by Associated Press newspaper editors and broadcast news directors in the United States:
1. Bill Clinton is elected president after campaign that includes strong third-party bid by Ross Perot.
2. Four Los Angeles police officers are acquitted of nearly all charges in beating of Rodney King, touching off worst U.S. riots of century.
3. South Florida devastated by Hurricane Andrew.
4. U.S. troops intervene in Somalia after civil war and famine wrack impoverished nation.
5. Civil war rages in Yugoslavia.
6. The United States can't shake its recession.
7. Former Soviet republics make the transition to independence amid ethnic violence and Russian President Boris Yeltin's reforms.
8. U.S. Supreme Court rules that states cannot ban most abortions, upholding core of Roe vs. Wade.
9. Kidnappers release two German men who were the last Western hostages in Lebanon.
10. Serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer pleads guilty to 16 murders.
- THE SECOND 10: U.S., Canada and Mexico reach free trade agreement; AIDS continues to spread as the search for a cure continues; European nationalist movements take root, threatening immigrants; several members of Congress ousted in aftermath of House bank scandal; Hanoi opens its books on Americans missing in the Vietnam War; a record number of women elected to the Senate; Magic Johnson returns to professional basketball, then re-retires; diplomats and environmentalists from 100 countries gather in Rio de Janiero for the Earth Summit; Britain's royal family rocked by scandal and singed by fire; GM's chairman resigns after disastrous year in which company reports record $4.5 billion loss.
- HERE ARE 1992's top 10 stories, based on an another Associated Press poll, this one surveying editors in 37 countries.
1. Yugoslavia. 938.
2. U.S. elections. 842.
3. Former Soviet republics' transition to independence; ethnic violence and Yeltsin's reforms. 598.
4. European Community friction over moves toward more unity. 455.
5. Famine hits war-town Somalia and other African countries. 440.
6. Germany plagued by neo-Nazi attacks on refugees. 382.
7. Earth Summit focuses attention on the environment. 265.
8. South Africa's rocky road to ending apartheid. 233.
9. Race riots hit Los Angeles and other U.S. cities. 232.
10. Mideast peace efforts. 179.