The Associated Press asked editors and news directors to vote for their top news stories of 2009. They asked the same of the general public on Facebook. What do we learn when we compare the results?

Pretty much that readers cared more about Michael Jackson, the miracle on the Hudson, Iran and Sonia Sotomayor than editors did. They didn't in a top ten sense, care about Afghanistan or the Fort Hood shootings at all. Here are the lists (which came too late to include the Tiger Woods scandal):

The journalists' top ten:

1 - The US economy
2 - Obama's inauguration
3 - Healthcare
4 - The Auto industry
5 - Swine Flu
6 - Afghanistan
7 - Michael Jackson dies
8 - Fort Hood rampage
9 - Ted Kennedy dies
10 - Miracle on the Hudson

The Facebook top ten:

1 - Obama's inauguration
2 - The US economy
3 -Michael Jackson dies
4 - Miracle on the Hudson
5 - Swine flu
6 - Health care overhaul
7 - Edward Kennedy dies.
8 - Auto industry woes
9 - Iran
10 - Sotomayor joins Supreme Court