CNN host Wolf Blitzer, left, speaks to a "hologram" of colleague Jessica Yellin during 2008 election night coverage. (CNN/Associated Press)

The news this year was dominated by the economic meltdown, various political campaigns and ongoing wars. The media not only reflected and reported on that reality, but sometimes became a part of those stories. Here’s a sampling of some of the unforgettable trends, moments and quotes from 2008.

Silliest media moment of the year: CNN’s hologram

On U.S. election night, CNN anchor Wolf Blitzer could hardly contain his excitement as reporter Jessica Yellin beamed into the picture via a “hologram” from Chicago. “It’s still Jessica Yellin and you look like Jessica Yellin and we know you are Jessica Yellin,” Blitzer enthused. Yellin herself added, “It’s like I follow the tradition of Princess Leia.”

CNN called it a hologram but, technically speaking, that wasn’t right. Whatever. The effect looked like something from Star Trek, circa 1966. It was a classic case of style trumping substance, of showbiz values pushing journalism to the side. CNN presented it as some kind of historical moment, but Yellin could have given her update in the conventional way (via remote) without any loss of information. Correspondent John King’s “Multi-Touch Collaboration Wall” (a.k.a. high-tech “magic map”) , on the other hand, was a cool innovation that actually helped explain the numbers.

A very British scandal

When comedians Russell Brand and Jonathan Ross walked into a BBC Radio studio on Oct. 16, they were two of the network’s golden boys. Then they taped an episode of Brand’s weekly program. Initially, the comics were going to record a phone chat with Andrew Sachs, who played Manuel on the revered sitcom Fawlty Towers. But he wasn’t able to do the interview, and so the saucy comics, egging each other on like schoolboys, left the actor four graphic messages about Brand’s brief sexual relationship with Sachs’s granddaughter, Georgina Baillie (a member of a dance troupe called “Satanicsluts.com”).

These profane prank calls were broadcast two days later, providing more than enough gasoline to start the year’s biggest media firestorm. A survey of the carnage: 40,000 complaints to the BBC, which led to the resignation of Radio 2 head Lesley Douglas. British PM Gordon Brown felt compelled to weigh in on the raunchy shtick, deeming it “clearly inappropriate and unacceptable.” Oasis guitarist Noel Gallagher defended his friend Brand, who quit the BBC on Oct. 29. Ross was suspended for 12 weeks. Even in the land that gave us Benny Hill, shock comedy has its limits.

Canadian journalist Mellissa Fung speaks on a phone after being released to Canadian officials in Kabul, four weeks after being abducted by armed men in a refugee camp on the outskirts of that city. (National Directorate of Security/Canadian Press) CBC reporter Mellissa Fung abducted in Afghanistan

On Nov. 8, CBC journalist Mellissa Fung was released to Canadian officials in Kabul, four weeks after being abducted by armed men in a refugee camp on the outskirts of that city. The news came as a surprise, since her abduction hadn’t been made public. “In the interest of Mellissa’s safety and that of other working journalists in the region, on the advice of security experts, we made the decision to ask media colleagues not to publish news of her abduction,” said CBC News publisher John Cruickshank. In an interview that aired Nov. 12, Fung was obviously grateful, but understood the subsequent debate surrounding the blackout: “As a journalist, I’d want to report on it, but if you’re talking about a life, that supercedes a good story.”

Print vs. online

Print journalism continued to fight its war of attrition this year, as some established operations decided to reinvent themselves as online-focused entities. The century-old Christian Science Monitor announced it will stop publishing as a daily physical newspaper in April 2009, but will continue to post daily stories on its website. In November, the weekly magazine U.S. News & World Report announced it would shift most of its resources to online publication. Further proof of the apocalyptic vibe hovering over the print world: the website Paper Cuts keeps a running tally of layoffs and buyouts at U.S. newspapers. It’s depressing stuff, both for employees and consumers who still love the tactile medium.

Notable passings

Tim Russert, 58, on June 13. He was NBC’s Washington bureau chief, host of Meet the Press since 1991 and an inveterate political junkie.

Ted Rogers, 75, on Dec. 2. Rogers was a Canadian communications giant and a cable-television pioneer.

Mark Felt (a.k.a. “Deep Throat”), 95, on Dec. 18. He was a key figure in the Washington Post’s coverage of the Watergate scandal, which led to the resignation of President Richard Nixon in 1974. Felt was the key anonymous source for reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein.

Frank magazine dies — newfangled technology to blame

Frank magazine’s mission was to afflict the comfortable, to be a thorn in the side of (mostly) Eastern Canadian politicos and media figures. In that regard, it occasionally succeeded — in 1991, the Ottawa-based satire and gossip rag infuriated then-PM Brian Mulroney by sponsoring a mock “Deflower Caroline Mulroney” contest.

Frank was always fending off legal threats and lawsuits, but that wasn’t what finally killed it. According to publisher Michael Bate, it was the web. “There was a time when Frank would break stories and print information you just couldn’t find anywhere else,” he said after deep-sixing the enterprise this October. “Those off-the record stories … that used to be among the media or a small political elite, now are on the internet.” You can be sure that Mulroney — or “Byron Muldoon,” as Frank used to call him — is shedding no tears.

Barry Blitt's controversial illustration for the cover of the July 21 issue of The New Yorker. (New Yorker/Associated Press)

Barry Blitt’s New Yorker cover

No other magazine cover this year generated as much controversy as Barry Blitt’s illustration of Barack and Michelle Obama in the July 21 issue of The New Yorker. Dubbed “The Politics of Fear,” the cover depicted the candidate in the Oval Office as a Muslim, wearing a turban and robes. He’s fist-bumping his militant wife, who’s carrying a machine gun and sporting a wry grin and an Afro. The U.S. flag is burning in the fireplace, and there’s a portrait of Osama bin Laden on the wall. The New Yorker issued a press release about the intention of the drawing: “[It] satirizes the use of scare tactics and misinformation in the presidential election to derail Barack Obama’s campaign."

In an interview with The Huffington Post, Blitt explained his work: “I think the idea that the Obamas are branded as unpatriotic (let alone as terrorists) in certain sectors is preposterous. It seemed to me that depicting the concept would show it as the fear-mongering ridiculousness that it is.” Not everyone got the joke. The Obama campaign distanced itself from the illustration, calling it “tasteless and offensive.” Fellow satirists Stephen Colbert and Jon Stewart later recreated the pose on the cover of Entertainment Weekly.

CTV purchases the Hockey Night in Canada theme

Dolores Claman’s “dun-da-duh-da-dun” ditty is often referred to as our second national anthem. It was associated with the Saturday night hockey juggernaut for 40 years. But after negotiations broke down between the CBC and Claman last June, CTV purchased the catchy tune, reportedly for between $2.5 and $3 million, for use in perpetuity. In turn, CBC staged “Canada’s Hockey Anthem Challenge,” an online competition to find a suitably peppy replacement. The contest attracted 14,871 submissions.Colin Oberst’s Canadian Gold was the eventual winner, arriving complete with a bagpipe fluorish that evoked Braveheart. After all that sturm und drang, ratings remain solid for HNIC.

They’ve got a crush on Obama

When it came to creating spots that went viral, Barack Obama’s supporters trounced John McCain’s. The trend started in 2007, with the cheesy I Got A Crush…on Obama by Obama Girl. Yes We Can went supernova in February, combining a Gap ad aesthetic (tasteful, minimalist black and white) with appearances by attractive celebs (John Legend, will.I.am, Scarlett Johannson) and snippets of the senator’s loquacious concession speech in the New Hampshire primary.

As the campaign continued, Ron Howard endorsed Obama on Funnyordie.com and the crew from the famous Budweiser “Wassup” ad reunited to create a poignant commercial for his candidacy. All of these videos attracted millions of page views. As well, the Obama campaign deftly out-manoeuvred his opponent in online fundraising. Meanwhile, McCain blithely admitted his lack of computer skills: “I’m an illiterate who has to rely on my wife for all the assistance that I can get.” His comments spoke to the generational divide between the two candidates — and not in a good way.

Economic meltdown leads to year-end cuts

Nov. 12: Canwest cuts 560 jobs: 210 in broadcast, 350 in publishing.

Nov. 27: CTV cuts 105 positions, including staff at MuchMusic and CTV News.

Dec. 2: Rogers lays off 65 people from their various media properties.

Dec. 15: Sun Media cuts 600 jobs in Ontario, Quebec and Western Canada.

Most-watched interview of the year: Katie Couric vs. Sarah Palin

Republican vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin doled out network access sparingly during the U.S. election campaign, but her series of interviews with Katie Couric of CBS Evening News proved disastrous. Couric’s question about Palin’s foreign policy experience elicited some mangled comments about Russian planes flying into Alaskan air space, convincing few people that she was qualified for such an important office. Due largely to the endless loop of YouTube, Palin was unable to escape those words.

Liberal leader Stephane Dion answers a reporter's question after Parliament was prorogued in December. (Fred Chartrand/Canadian Press)

Stéphane Dion’s annus horribilis

In his bid to become Prime Minister, Liberal leader Stéphane Dion faced challenges with both the medium and the message. His October interview with CTV Atlantic’s Steve Murphy will be discussed in journalism ethics classes for years. The anchor asked, “If you were prime minister now, what would you have done about the economy and this crisis that Mr. Harper has not done?” Dion had trouble understanding the time frame of the question, and asked for clarification. After a few false starts, Dion asked if the interview could begin again, and Wright agreed.

CTV News wound up airing the tape in its entirety, including Dion’s misunderstanding of the initial question. Prime Minister Harper pounced on it: “When you’re running a trillion-and-a-half-dollar economy, you don’t get a chance to have do-overs, over and over again.” Debate raged over whether it was ethical for CTV to have agreed to restart the interview and then release the false starts. The Liberals ended up finishing a distant second in the federal election on Oct. 14. The parliamentary crisis in December was an opportunity for a Dion power play. But when he was asked to deliver a response to the prime minister’s address to the nation, Dion’s team was late in delivering it, forcing the networks to kill time on air. When the video finally arrived, Dion was out of focus, but clearly visible was an unfortunate background prop: Jeffrey Simpson’s book Hot Air. The CBC’s Peter Mansbridge noted, “It kind of looked like they shot it with a cellphone.” A week later, Dion was replaced by Michael Ignatieff as Liberal leader.

Just goes to shoe ya

“This is a gift from the Iraqis. This is the farewell kiss, you dog.”

— 28-year-old TV journalist Muntadhar al-Zaidi, as he threw his shoes at U.S. President George W. Bush at a Baghdad press conference on Dec. 14.

“So what if a guy threw his shoe at me?”

— President Bush

Greig Dymond writes about the arts for CBCNews.ca.