The federal government attracted precious little attention too, despite successful negotiations to halt Iran's nuclear program. Foreign policy received less than half its average annual coverage; domestic policy barely more than half. Into that vacuum rushed Republican Donald Trump, almost elevating early Campaign 2016 to the sky-high levels of 2007.

Paradoxically, ABC responded to this slow news year by revamping its format to emphasize breaking, often local, news. This was ABC's #1 year for crime since 1988, #1 for transportation, #3 for weather -- and least for features, for health, for economy, and for its DC bureau. By contrast, the newscast that changed anchors -- NBC with Lester Holt -- made fewer format changes.

With the political mood energized both by Trump's nativism and by Black Lives Matter protests in Baltimore, this was the database's third-heaviest year for Race-&-Immigration, led by an influx of refugees in Europe, and racist murders in a Charleston church.

And terrorism had its third-busiest year since 9/11, with a workplace shooting in San Bernardino (part terrorism, part crime), a conviction in the Boston Marathon bombing, a pair of attacks on Paris, and the fight against ISIS (part terrorism, part war).

The Most Newsworthy Man of the Year was Donald Trump, the would-be wall builder against Mexicans. The Woman was Germany's Angela Merkel, for her welcome to the huddled masses.