Facebook users invited to vote for AP Top Stories of 2009

NEW YORK – Readers, viewers and listeners of AP coverage are invited to choose the top news of the year as The Associated Press uses Facebook to receive their votes.

This is the first time the AP has set up a top stories poll for the general public since the news cooperative began its annual poll in 1936.

Since then, the AP’s 1,500 member newspapers and several thousand broadcast news organizations that use AP services have picked the top stories of the year.

In the new poll, Facebook users can access the application from the AP Top Stories of 2009 Fan Page. The Facebook poll is open through Dec. 17, when the AP’s poll of member editors also ends.

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In 1936, editors picked as top story the British crisis caused by the romance of King Edward VIII and the American divorcee Wallis Simpson, which led to the king’s abdication. This year’s choices include the inauguration of President Barack Obama, Sonia Sotomayor’s confirmation as a U.S. Supreme Court justice, the outbreak of swine flu and the nation’s economic woes.

Results of the two polls will be published in the coming weeks.

“We are excited about this opportunity to enlist the views of more than 350 million active users within the Facebook community,” said Michael Oreskes, AP senior managing editor. “This move to expand the AP Top Stories poll is among several efforts to engage consumers in new ways through emerging platforms.”

The Facebook app has a simple drag-and-drop interface that empowers users to choose their own top news among 30 stories selected by AP editors, and there is a place for write-in votes if they would like to nominate a story not on the list. Once selections have been made, Facebook users can publish the results in their news feed, compare their picks with those of other users and share the app with their friends. The fan page features a short summary for each top story, related AP Images photos and a video link of content that originally appeared on the AP Online Video Network. Users are allowed to vote only once.