For much of the year, the healthcare issue dominated the presidential election and campaigns. Then Wall Street suffered its collapse and what was once a hot topic shifted to the backburner.

The financial beat I've been covering since this September is not the same beat I took on when I first began this position in the summer of 2007.

Even before the credit crisis and gas prices hit $4 a gallon, consumer PR pros stepped up to the plate this year, in spite of decreasing budgets and increasing economic uncertainty.

The start of 2008 didn't look promising for the entertainment industry, as the held-over Writers Strike affected production until its end in mid-February. As things settled down, it was interesting to watch the Internet, the main point of contention during the strike, continue to impact entertainment properties.

It's a tumultuous time in DC, as Barack Obama's election means some 8,000 politically appointed jobs open up that had been filled by Republicans - and several hundred of those are principally in communications.

Financial reports and media news were largely intertwined in 2008, as many media companies - suffering from the economic downturn and fearing a barren 2009 - cut jobs, publications, and editions.