His death is the number-one entertainment story. And, the big box-office take of his movie, "The Dark Knight" is third.
The list was put together from a survey of U.S. newspaper and broadcast editors.
They put the end of the writers' strike in second place, between the two Heath Ledger stories.
Political comedy is fourth, with Tina Fey on "Saturday Night Live," Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert and the candidates' appearances on late-night shows.
And, though she seems to be doing better now, the circus of Britney Spears' downward spiral earlier in the year ranks fifth.
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