Rise of ISIS named top story of 2015

The explosive growth of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and international efforts to root out the extremist group was the top news story in 2015, according to a poll of American journalists from The Associated Press. 

Thirty-seven of the 100 editors and news directors taking part in the AP’s annual survey put the fight against ISIS — which has stretched from its self-proclaimed caliphate in the Middle East to Europe and across the Internet — at the top of the list.

{mosads}Second was the Supreme Court’s historic June ruling declaring same-sex marriage legal across the country.

That 5-4 decision was the court’s biggest expansion of civil rights in years and prompted outrage from social conservatives across the country. In the wake of the ruling, Kentucky county clerk Kim Davis was rocketed to conservative stardom for refusing to issue same-sex marriage licences.

Third on the AP’s list was a pair of terror attacks in Paris apparently linked to Islamic extremists: the January killing of 17 people that began at the offices of satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, and last month’s killing of 130 people across the city.

The AP’s list underscored the rising anxieties about global terrorism, domestic shootings and national security across the country.

Of the top 10 stories of the year, six were tied to violence in some way. In addition to ISIS and the Paris attacks, journalists also listed the rash of mass shootings, deadly police violence against African-Americans, general fears about terrorism and the June slaughter in an historic Charleston, S.C., church among the major stories of the year.

Also on the list were the presidential election campaign, climate change and the migrant crisis facing Europe.