Talk:Wikinews' overview of the year 2008

September 27, 2008: Hawthorn wins 2008 AFL Grand Final
not sure whether this event is notable enough for inclusion. Anonymous101talk 08:00, 2 December 2008 (UTC)
 * and the same applies for "September 7: Papua New Guinea wins Australian rules football International Cup" Anonymous101talk 08:01, 2 December 2008 (UTC)


 * I withdrw my objection, it won't cause any harm and, I'm sure, to some people it is important. Anonymous101talk 16:12, 2 December 2008 (UTC)

Notability
I think this article should be pruned from un-notable events before publication. Imho, the following are quite unexciting and unworthy of remembering from a global perspective:

*January 23: Iraq removes Saddam references from flag *November 4: Viewed wins the 2008 Melbourne Cup
 * September 13: Los Angeles commuter train collides with freight train; over two dozen killed
 * January 1: Cyprus and Malta adopt the euro
 * April 28: Two trains collide in China killing dozens and injuring hundreds
 * June 4: Apache pipeline fire - Varanus Island, Western Australia
 * September 27: Hawthorn wins 2008 AFL Grand Final
 * September 7: Papua New Guinea wins Australian rules football International Cup
 * December 28: NFL: Packers defeat Lions 31–21, Lions become first team to finish season with 0-16 record

I don't want to wine about sports, it's just not world news unless it's the Olympics or similar. --Steven Fruitsmaak (Reply) 22:28, 29 December 2008 (UTC)
 * I don't want to start a major argument here, but there is too much emphasis that English Wikinews must be global. There has to be allowances for events that are major in English-speaking countries. If there was an article about Serie A on Italian Wikinews, I don't think anyone would complain that it shouldn't be there because it isn't "world news". That being said, the above list could still be pruned. --SVTCobra 00:22, 30 December 2008 (UTC)
 * I agree, local news is important too. I've removed two which are total non-events, imho. Please suggest which ones you would remove or keep. --Steven Fruitsmaak (Reply) 18:42, 30 December 2008 (UTC)

My opinion:


 * September 13: Los Angeles commuter train collides with freight train; over two dozen killed - ❌
 * January 1: Cyprus and Malta adopt the euro - ✅
 * April 28: Two trains collide in China killing dozens and injuring hundreds - ❌
 * June 4: Apache pipeline fire - Varanus Island, Western Australia - ❌
 * September 27: Hawthorn wins 2008 AFL Grand Final - ❌
 * September 7: Papua New Guinea wins Australian rules football International Cup - ❌
 * December 28: NFL: Packers defeat Lions 31–21, Lions become first team to finish season with 0-16 record - ❌

Thanks, Anonymous101talk 18:45, 30 December 2008 (UTC)


 * If you ask me, I think stories about the trains in Los Angeles and China in which dozens/hundreds of people died is important. You should be ashamed Anonymous101 for saying that innocent people dying is "not [an] important event". Oh wait, I guess Heath Ledger's death (like the introduction in the article says) is important because he was a celebrity and made millions of dollars. That is beyond hypocritical.
 * No, I am not saying it is not important, I am saying it is not important historically. So it is very sad when hundreds die, but in 20 years no one but people affected by the incident will remember it, while the ones I consider to be important at the very least affect whole countries. Anonymous101talk 08:47, 31 December 2008 (UTC)

As for the stories about the NFL, it's important if you're an American. The NFL is America's Game and that's silly to say that a HISTORICally bad team in the Lions or a HISTORICally great player like Brett Favre is not important. Is it just me or does Wikinews have a bunch of non-Americans that don't like sports as the main editors? This is a free-information source, right? Maybe you guys can learn something about American football. These events are important. Every American man that loves football will tell you the Lions are terrible and that Brett Favre is like the Babe Ruth of football. Do you guys know who Babe Ruth was?
 * Oh my god! You haven't worked out some of us are Europeans! American football is not an international sport. There are more countries take part in cricket at an international level. By that yardstick, the NFL is parochial and not relevant on an international level. --Brian McNeil / talk 08:57, 31 December 2008 (UTC)
 * Yeah since Cricket is such a manly sport. I'll be sure to find 100 million people in America that want to watch a championship Cricket game. Oh wait, I guess that's why Super Bowl Sunday is the most watched sporting event in America. It's pastime. I think that's relevant.

Review

 * Valid concerns, I will try to address this. Anonymous101talk 09:05, 30 December 2008 (UTC)
 * Should we put every single category for every single event mentioned in this article? Bawolff ☺☻ 11:38, 30 December 2008 (UTC)
 * No. --Steven Fruitsmaak (Reply) 18:33, 30 December 2008 (UTC)

News should be more general
Hi

I think that some news listed here are not important enough to be listed here but reminds a more important news. For example, instead of talking about Michael Phelps' 8 gold medals, we should talk about the Beijing Olympics in general (first olympics in China, a lot of money spent, first games won by China, etc). Instead of talking about the fact that the Dow Jones lost points on October 10th, we should talk about the global economic crisis and the impact on world stock markets. We don't care if Dow Jones lost 200 points in one day. We care that all major stock markets lost 50% in one year). I think that would make a more interesting 2008 review.

mentioned time zones not interesting
Cyprus time zones are not notable for annual news and should be removed.