CP Editors pick Tory majority as story of the year; poll for Postmedia picks death of Jack Layton

Prime Minister Stephen Harper's win of a Conservative majority government has been named Canada's News Story of the Year by editors and news directors who participated in the annual survey of newsrooms across the country by The Canadian Press. The Conservative majority captured 25 per cent of the votes in the annual CP survey – narrowly beating out the NDP's surge to official Opposition status, which earned a nod from 24 per cent of those newsrooms that voted. Together, those two sides of the Election 2011 coin dominated the other nominees. The post-Stanley Cup riots in Vancouver earned 12 per cent of the vote, the wildfires in Slave Lake 11 per cent and the Occupy protest movement 8 per cent.

Postmedia News and Global TV commissioned an Ipsos Reid poll in which the death of Jack Layton was the top Canadian news story in 2011. Thirty-seven per cent of survey respondents across the country cited Layton's death as the top national story, followed by the royal visit of Prince William and Kate (13 per cent), the Vancouver hockey riots (nine per cent), the federal election (eight per cent) and the Occupy protests rounding out the top five Canadian news stories at seven per cent.